The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19, has caused hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, claimed thousands of lives and brought the world economy to its knees. The strength of medical and economic contingency plans has been thoroughly tested in places like New York City, Washington state, New Orleans and the state of Georgia.

Since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, governments have executed measures to slow the spread of the virus: mandatory quarantines, closure of schools and universities and implementation of social distancing policies. As a result of these measures, the global economy has come to a halt, leaving millions unemployed and causing financial strain across all sectors of the U.S. economy. Georgia has not been left “unmarked” by the virus: more than 25,000 Georgians have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and there have been more than 1,000 COVID-19-related deaths.