Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced plans to roll back the city's reopening to Phase 1 on Friday evening. Under the first phase, residents are required to stay home. Only those who are making essential trips, such as going to the grocery store, will be allowed to go outside.

According to Mayor Bottoms, the decision to suspend and revert reopening was based on the recent COVID-19 cases and other data trends reported by health officials, as reported by

AJC.com.

Guidelines Under Phase 1

Under Phase 1, residents are required to stay at home except for essential trips. They are also required to wear face masks in public places. Individuals are encouraged to wash their hands and observe social distancing frequently.

Business establishments will not be allowed to serve dine-in patrons. Instead, meals must be to-go or delivered to the resident's doorstep. It is recommended to switch to teleworking where possible. Public and high-touch areas must also be frequently cleaned.

All city facilities deemed "non-essential" must remain closed. Special events are also temporarily prohibited. The city government will be responsible for establishing communication with local and state authorities to help monitor public health, WSB-TV Atlanta reports.

Reopening Phases

Atlanta entered its second phase of reopening during the last week of May. Phase 2 allowed small and private gatherings of no more than ten people. Residents who attended the gatherings were required to observe strict social distancing measures.

The people of Atlanta were allowed to order to-go from restaurants or do curbside pick-ups for both food and retail establishments.

According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Governor Brian Kemp's executive orders to reopen most businesses make Mayor Bottoms' orders non-binding and not enforceable.

Bottom's order came as the state reported the most massive single-day increase in newly reported COVID-19 cases. Health officials recorded nearly 4,500 cases in the last 24 hours. Half of the new cases in Georgia occurred in the past two weeks in Atlanta.

On Sunday, the state's health department said Georgia's total number of coronavirus infections had surpassed 116,000. Figures released in the afternoon also showed the state hitting more than 3,000 virus-related deaths.

Over 73 cases were reported in six counties-Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Glynn, Pierce, and Ware.

Testing in Georgia has seen an increase. According to The Telegraph, the state has conducted over 183,094 antibody tests. Total viral tests also reached 1,083,416, with more than 18,500 reported in the last 24 hours. The totals do not include trials that were not reported through the state's system.

Georgia currently has 2,512 patients hospitalized. The new total increased by 69 patients in the last 24 hours. The count includes patients in any fo the state's hospitals who tested positive for the virus at the time of the report. However, they fo not include patients who are under investigation for possible infection.

An Associated Press report showed 82 percent of the state's critical care beds are now in use. It is noted that not every patient in a critical care bed has the virus.

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