Coronavirus: Shelter In Place Begins for Woodstock

WOODSTOCK, GA — 21 more people have died of the coronavirus in Georgia as of Friday. The news brings the dealt toll to 184 deaths total. Meanwhile a total of 5,831 patients are confirmed to have the virus, of which 1,158 are hospitalized for emergency treatment.

As the coronavirus threat grew, Gov. Brian Kemp ordered a shelter in place order beginning Friday afternoon and running through at least April 13. Under the order, everyone except essential workers must remain home, and should not leave unless they are gathering to get important supplies, food, or see a doctor. Residents can also go out on walks or jogs but must keep at least six feet away from each other.

Related: What You Can, Can't Do Under Georgia's Stay At Home Order

Cases in Cherokee County
As of the latest numbers released Friday at noon, 104 cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed in Cherokee County and five patients had died, one more death than 24 hours ago. The latest patient has only been identified as an 81-year-old man who suffered from underlying health conditions.

New directory for open or closed businesses

There's been widespread confusion over what is and isn't closed by the coronavirus pandemic. To help, Patch has set up a simple open-or-closed directory to help business owners share their status with customers.

Businesses who want to report their status can find more information here. We're going to publish the directory on Patch, in our local email newsletters and on our local Facebook pages to ensure that as many community members as possible know the status of your business.

Meanwhile customers who want to know if their favorite local businesses are still up and running can find the directory here.

Cherokee County School System Resources:

• Technology support: If the Cherokee County School System laptop your child is using is not working properly, check our help page at https://bit.ly/DLDfaq; if you still need assistance, please ask your child's teacher to make a technology help desk request.
• Canvas support: For help, first check our webpage at https://www.cherokeek12.net/Content2/canvas for answers; if you still need assistance, email our Canvas help desk staff at canvas.support@cherokeek12.net
• #CCSDserves To-Go Meals: Distribution is scheduled to continue on Mondays through April 20; the full list of sites and schedule of delivery times is posted at http://bit.ly/CCSDserves
• Support #CCSDserves: You can donate by check, mailed in with the form at http://bit.ly/CCSDdonate (staff signatures not required); online by credit card at http://bit.ly/CCSDgiveonline or by transferring unspent funds in your child's account using the form at http://bit.ly/CCSDpayfwd (choose "Pay It Forward" and email it to us).
• MUST Ministries at CCSD Schools: MUST Ministries is distributing food from its pantries at Cherokee HS, Hasty ES Fine Arts Academy and Oak Grove ES Fine Arts Academy to families already served by those programs. If you're not participating in one of those programs, please contact MUST (https://www.mustministries.org/) about picking up food from its main pantry in Canton.
• The district is continuously updating its webpage at https://www.cherokeek12.net/content/bulletin-board with information and resources.

Other local news, closures and changes

• City of Woodstock is open for business. Offices are temporarily closed to the public to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus as city staff continues to serve residents and businesses. A number of online options for interacting with your city government are available and under development. Officials are in contact with Georgia Department of Public Health and are consulting the guidelines of other agencies like the CDC in making decisions on cancellations and closures.
• The April meeting of Woodstock Downtown Development Authority is cancelled.
• Georgia Municipal Association has postponed Georgia Cities Week to October 4-10 so the April 20 Town Hall Meeting and April 25 Touch-a-Truck have been postponed.
• Woodstock Fire Department is taking added precautions for the safety of citizens and firefighters. WFD will not be doing any public relations details at this time inside or outside of our stations. No outside visitors are allowed at either Woodstock Fire Station at this time. If you are well and need a blood pressure check, please go to your local pharmacy. Car seat checks are suspended until further notice.
• Call 911 if you are having difficulty breathing or are choking, having an allergic reaction, have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, are confused, disoriented or dizzy, are having difficulty speaking, walking or seeing, or have sudden severe pain. Woodstock Fire & Rescue asks that you do not call 911 if you want information about COVID-19, need a ride to the doctor's office, want to get tested, or have mild symptoms.
• If you need assistance from Woodstock Police for non-emergency issues, call 678-493-4080. Woodstock Police Department's March 18th Coffee with a Cop at Chick-fil-a is cancelled. The remainder of the Spring Citizens Public Safety Academy is cancelled. All Police Auxiliary Unit duties are suspended until further notice.
• If you need a motor vehicle collision report from an incident that took place in Woodstock city limits you can check buycrash.com. This third-party site provides reports available for download in PDF format for a nominal fee. Call 770-592-6030 Option 7 or email policerecords@woodstockga.gov, if you need additional information to locate your report in their database.
• If you have received a citation from Woodstock Police or Georgia State Patrol within city limits for most citations you may avoid a court appearance by paying your fine online at www.woodstockpayments.com. You may also pay by phone at 1-844-263-6701 or by mail to City of Woodstock Municipal Court at 12453 Hwy 92, Woodstock, GA 30188. Online payments and payments by phone must be received by midnight the day before your court date. Payments by mail must be received the Friday prior to your court date.
• The following changes were made to the Municipal Court calendar for the months of March and April:
  • April 6 court session will be closed out and rescheduled to May 18
  • April 13 and April 20 court sessions are canceled
  • April 27 trial session will be decided by the end of March
• All Parks and Recreation facility rentals for March have been cancelled or postponed. Mountain Goat Adventure's Rope Mill Spring Thaw 4 and 10 mile Trail Run has been rescheduled for August 1.
• The Parks and Recreation department will begin accepting applications for Community Garden registration on April 1. A link to an online-only registration form will be posted to woodstockparksandrec.com.
• The Woodstock Visitors Center is closed until further notice.
• All IN WDSTK events are canceled through April. In addition, the following IN WDSTK supported events are being postponed:
• Taste of Woodstock (April 23): to be rescheduled
• Start of Farm. Fresh. Market (April 25): to be rescheduled