A U.S. judge has ordered Georgia’s Governor and the Mayor of Atlanta to sit for mediation in their legal spat over the mandatory wearing of face masks to combat COVID-19 .
Republican Governor Brian Kemp sued officials in the U.S. State’s largest city on Thursday, seeking to block a mandate that would require Atlanta residents to wear face masks in public.
Mr. Kemp claims Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms does not have the authority to require stricter public health measures than the State, which has encouraged mask-wearing but not required it.
In an order issued on Thursday, Georgia’s Fulton Superior Court judge Jane Barwick ordered Mr. Kemp and Ms. Bottoms to attend a mediation before Tuesday 28 July where they should “make a good faith effort to resolve the issues involved in this case.”
Georgia is one of the worst-hit States in the U.S.
