ATLANTA – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University Hospital are monitoring two Georgia residents following a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that resulted in three deaths.

Atlanta hospital monitoring

What we know:

A couple returned to Georgia last week and was moved Monday to Emory University Hospital for specialized monitoring. One of the passengers showed mild symptoms of the virus but has since tested negative. Both individuals were passengers on the MV Hondius, a ship where the Andes variant of hantavirus was identified.

The CDC confirmed the patients are being kept in a biocontainment unit designed for highly infectious diseases. Doctors at Emory said one individual is receiving treatment while the other is being monitored, though they emphasize there is no risk to the general public.

Monitoring and travel status

What we don’t know:

Health officials have not confirmed if the passengers will be cleared to leave the hospital or return home before a 42-day period is over. While one test was negative, authorities have not said how many additional tests or how much more observation time is needed before the couple is fully cleared. The exact names and ages of the Georgia residents have not been released due to privacy concerns.

Cruise ship outbreak

The backstory:

The outbreak began in April on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius during a voyage from Argentina. Nine cases have been confirmed and three people died after the virus spread, likely through human-to-human transmission of the Andes strain. This specific strain is known for causing Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, a severe respiratory illness.

Low public risk

Big picture view:

While the Andes variant is serious, the CDC and World Health Organization assess the risk to the general public as low. The virus typically spreads through close contact with bodily fluids or respiration rather than everyday social contact. Federal and state health departments are using established protocols to manage the repatriation and monitoring of the 18 Americans who were on the ship.

GEORGIA, I have a question,

Am I wrong in believing that babies do not belong at wineries, breweries, festivals, and other adult spaces? I know this is going to make people angry, but I finally snapped this weekend.

My husband and I went to a local winery for a relaxing afternoon. This place literally advertises itself as a quiet adults’ getaway. Wine tastings, acoustic music, people sitting around talking. It is not Pizza Ranch.

About twenty minutes after we sat down, a couple showed up with a baby that looked maybe 8 months old. The second they sat down, the baby started screaming. Not crying. Full on shrieking every few minutes over EVERYTHING. Wind blew? Crying. Someone laughed too loudly? Crying. A dog walked by? Crying.

The parents did absolutely nothing except bounce the stroller and say things like “aww, someone’s overstimulated.” Meanwhile, everyone around them kept looking at each other because the entire atmosphere was ruined. One couple actually got up and moved.

After almost an hour of this, I finally said, probably louder than I should have, “Maybe don’t bring a baby somewhere meant for adults until it learns not to cry every time the wind blows.”

The mom looked horrified. The dad called me rude. But I genuinely do not understand why some parents insist on bringing babies to breweries, wineries, upscale restaurants, and festivals where people specifically go to relax away from screaming kids.

What do you think?

LOVES KIDS – JUST NOT EVERYWHERE

Dear NOT EVERYWHERE,

While many believe kids should be allowed everywhere an adult goes, I tend to agree with you. If it’s advertised as adults-only, you are justified in being upset. Some people don’t realize you have to sacrifice certain things when you have children, at least until they are older. However, maybe be a bit more polite next time?

Love, GEORGIA

• Billionaire businessman Rick Jackson is running for governor of Georgia, drawing comparisons to former Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice.
• Jackson, a self-funded candidate, has risen in the polls against established politicians in the Republican primary.
• His campaign ads feature strong rhetoric on immigration and align him with former President Donald Trump.
• The Republican primary field also includes Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.

Kirk Fordice-like Rick Jackson is sounding a whole lot like Daniel Kirkwood Fordice as he tries to be elected Georgia’s next governor.

Fordice came out of nowhere — actually, Vicksburg is somewhere but you know what I mean — in 1991 to become a two-term Mississippi governor.

He had money but nothing like Jackson, a billionaire businessman who’s also trying to emerge from nowhere politically to win Georgia’s top office.

“The establishment hated Trump, because they couldn’t control him. They are going to hate me,” Jackson says in an ad for Georgia’s Republican Primary on May 19, sounding like one of my favorite Mississippi governors — Fordice, because of his unpredictable personality (he could vilify or charm you, all in one sentence), not his politics. He died in 2004 of cancer.

I stood by a cafe entrance one morning, waiting to cover a Fordice speech. When he appeared, I stuck out my hand to shake his. “I’m not shaking your damn hand. You’re part of the problem down there (referring to the newspaper),” he told me, smiling and moving on.

Jackson rose to become one of economic giant-Georgia’s wealthiest people. He came from Atlanta’s rough midtown area, ending up in the foster care system. He left college due to poor financial circumstances.

The 71-year-old Jackson wormed his way into the dynamic city’s business scene in the late 1970s, mostly of the healthcare variety with mixed success before starting a workforce staffing and services company and later an antibiotics manufacturing plant. He turned those businesses into billion-dollar enterprises.

“It’s God’s money,” he said in rural Blakely, and he’s been charitable with it.

Jackson doesn’t try to hide his vast wealth. His family lives in a 48,000-square-foot mansion at Cumming, a place of nearly 100,000 people near Atlanta in Forsyth County, which once promoted its almost all-white population as a virtue. 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Bill Torpy recently wrote that Jackson will spend a ton of his own money in seeking another mansion, the one occupied by Georgia’s governor. Torpy noted that present Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was once heavily favored to win the primary race, but he’s fallen behind Jackson’s bold money bid.

“The one-time front-runner in the Republican primary (Jones) has been relegated to No. 2, the result of a $100 million Mack truck running him over.

Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare tycoon, a man with a sly smile and reptilian gaze, is the guy driving that truck,” Torpy wrote.

The GOP field includes Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, who spurned Trump’s demand to find 11,780 votes that would’ve allowed him to win Georgia in 2020.