GeorgiaALIVE Inc., a leadership initiative for a vital economy, announces its formation and first order of business. The Georgia corporation with pending nonprofit status, created and driven by business and community leaders, is placing immediate focus on protecting Georgia’s personal and economic health during the coronavirus pandemic.

The steering committee members of GeorgiaALIVE include:

Ed Trimble: GeorgiaALIVE founder, former CEO of e-government pioneer EzGov, and current founder and CEO of FanBeat, a sports gaming and analytics company

Tom Noonan: former chairman and CEO of Internet Security Systems and founding partner at TechOperators Venture Capital

Charles Brewer: founder and former CEO of MindSpring, and current managing partner of Las Catalinas, a car-free town in Costa Rica

Fred Assaf: head of school of Pace Academy, a K–12 college preparatory private school

Rev. Tony Sundermeier: senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church, an established community congregation

Rabbi Peter S. Berg: senior rabbi, The Temple

Kirby Smart: head coach of the University of Georgia football team

Emily Giffin: New York Times and international best-selling author

Rev. Raphael Warnock: senior pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church

Will Dupont: automotive practice lead, Capgemini Invent, NA

Sanjay Parek: former co-founder of IP location pioneer Digital Envoy, currently co-host of the podcast "Tech Talk Y'all" and founder of MailMosh, a data protection startup

Genna Keller: principal, Trevelino/Keller, a digital PR and marketing agency

GeorgiaALIVE, founded by Trimble, is focused on core initiatives related to the coronavirus. “Driven by our modeling, combined with insights from federal and state data regarding the spread of coronavirus in Georgia, we are intently focused on promoting shelter-in-place personal behavior and supporting the acquisition of critically needed ventilators,” notes Trimble. “Key business and community leaders have taken notice of the current projected outcome – which is not good – and mobilized quickly to ensure we are doing everything possible as Georgia citizens to fight the spread and destruction of this virus.”

Stay at Home Plea

GeorgiaALIVE is launching a grassroots campaign in support of the state to encourage all Georgians to take the shelter-in-place order seriously for the future of the state’s health – personal and economic.  “The spread of the virus and the growing deaths in Georgia will be less severe if all Georgians who are non-essential workers comply and stay home,” says Noonan.

Ventilator and PPE Need

By using their networks and business acumen, key supporters of GeorgiaALIVE are doing all possible to support the state to ensure an adequate supply of ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) – masks, gloves, gowns and more –  are available for the upcoming surge in coronavirus cases and the impending load on the Georgia healthcare system.  Based on the death rate curve for Georgia versus other countries, states and cities that are further down the path in fighting the virus, GeorgiaALIVE has modeled out when the state is expected to exceed its supply of both ICU beds and ventilators. This information is being actively shared with the state to support planning efforts. GeorgiaALIVE is also providing seasoned business leaders to the state to assist in negotiating the purchase and distribution of additional ventilator inventory, PPE to support our healthcare workers, and other emerging innovation to fight the spread and destruction of the virus.

Georgia Coronavirus Data

Because of the difficulties in rolling out coronavirus testing across the country, including Georgia, the number of coronavirus cases is a poor metric for tracking and predicting the impact of the virus. Instead, GeorgiaALIVE uses the growth in daily deaths in Georgia benchmarked against other geographies to offer a forecast of both caseload and future deaths within our state. This methodology is aligned with the modeling of Dr. Christopher Murray, who is providing forecasts for the President and his medical team.

The four key metrics that GeorgiaALIVE is tracking and will be publishing on its Web site are 1) total Georgia deaths from the virus, 2) daily deaths from the virus, 3) daily percentage growth in deaths from the virus, and 4) a 3-day moving average of the daily percentage growth in deaths from the virus. It is this fourth metric, the 3-day moving average in daily growth, that will be the key indicator of whether we are winning or losing in our fight against this virus. As that number begins to come down, the curve flattens, indicating we are making progress as a state. That 3-day moving average in daily death growth today stands at 23 percent, indicating deaths in Georgia are doubling every 3.4 days. Data will be updated nightly at GeorgiaAlive.com.