Gov. Brian Kemp speaks in his ceremonial office on Feb. 26. 

ATLANTA — Georgia had six confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Monday and 11 cases pending confirmation, according to the Department of Community Health.

Three confirmed cases in Fulton, one case in Cobb, one case in Floyd and one confirmed case in Polk County.

The 11 presumptive confirmed cases are instances of coronavirus confirmed by the state but awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those cases are individuals from Cobb, Cherokee, Gwinnett, Fayette, Delkab and Fulton counties.

Risk for Georgians remains low, Gov. Brian Kemp said, although elderly individuals and individuals with chronic medical conditions are at increased risk.

Kemp held a press conference Monday updating with efforts to prepare possible quarantine sites and a call for insurers to waive costs of coronavirus-related care.

“From the very beginning we’ve promise to be transparent and keep Georgians informed,” Kemp said. “That’s why we’re telling everyone now that the national message is starting to change and we need the public to continue to follow important guides.”

Kemp’s office is regularly participating in conference calls with Vice President Mike Pence — named coronavirus czar — federal officials and more than 40 governors across the state, Kemp said.

Kemp said his office is not yet advising cancellation of large public events or school, although schools are closed Tuesday in Fulton County after a middle school teacher was hospitalized Friday and tested positive for COVID-19.

Georgians must remain “vigilant,” Kemp said, and stay home if sick, avoid contact with others — especially elderly citizens — and avoid cruise ship travel.

More than 100 passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship, 34 Georgians, are soon arriving at Dobbins Air Force Base for monitoring, officials said. The Georgia residents will be returning to their homes for monitoring.

The state has also prepared Hard Labor Creek State Park in Morgan County with trailers as a possible quarantine site.

“Let me emphasize this is only a precautionary measure,” Kemp said Monday. “We have however identified a Cherokee County patient who has a presumptive positive test for coronavirus who may need to be transferred to that location. Right now there are several emergency trailers ready for patient isolation.”

Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, said the state public health lab has tested about 50 to 60 individuals and has requested additional testing materials to ramp up efforts.

The CDC has not yet allowed the state health department to confirm cases on its own, she said, but it is hoping to do so in coming weeks.

“As we continue to increase our testing opportunities, we’re going to see more and more individuals with this virus,” Toomey said.

Toomey said bringing the Georgians on the cruise ship who tested positive for coronavirus home to be quarantined is “the right thing to do.”

Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King said as of Monday, the department is urging all health insurers to waive cost-sharing charges for testing for coronavirus.

The charge is to “guarantee that no Georgian is denied testing or treatment related to coronavirus,” King said.

“We’re asking insurers to waive office, urgent care center and emergency room co-pays for testing for the virus,” he said. “… For those insurers with networks that cannot meet this capacity, we’re asking them to provide their members with access to out of network provider at in-network rates.”

King said the effort is to reduce barriers of access to care.

As precautionary measures, the Georgia House of Representatives will begin limiting visitors and eliminate pages. Special guest groups will not be allowed effective Wednesday and Chaplain of the Day will not be allowed to bring guests.

Ralston said, as much as possible, the public should watch Capitol happenings online.

“We’re not trying to be alarmist we’re trying to be cautious and we’re trying to be trying to protect the people who need to be here so that we can continue our work and work toward the conclusion of the session,” Ralston told press.