Some NC areas start loosening COVID-19 rules. Virus is now in 98 of state’s 100 counties.
Nearly a week after Gov. Roy Cooper extended his stay-at-home order through May 8, North Carolina counties are making moves toward loosening or lifting restrictions on citizens and businesses.
Wake County announced Wednesday that it would lift its stay-at-home order, which had stricter rules than the state order.
The city of Raleigh and Wake County towns, except for Apex, will now follow the state order, which allows gatherings up to 10 people and funerals of up to 50 people (instead of the 25-person limit Wake formerly imposed). Apex will be releasing its own proclamation.
The Wake County changes take effect on Friday.
In Gaston County near Charlotte, commissioners sent mixed messages Wednesday. The county board originally signaled that it would allow businesses to reopen at 5 p.m. Wednesday, contradicting the governor’s order. The board said the decision was based on the relatively low coronavirus numbers and availability of hospital beds in the county.
But that prompted a retort from the governor and a revised version of the original county order. The revised order says Gaston is still under the statewide restrictions until they expire. “At no point would county leadership ask its staff or county residents to break the law,” a statement said. However, the commissioners also released a statement that offers support for businesses and churches that have “constitutional rights” to safely reopen regardless of the state restrictions.
This comes a day after the ReOpen NC group, which opposes Cooper’s stay-at-home order, held its third protest in downtown Raleigh on Tuesday. Protesters called for businesses across the state to open despite the order. Four people were arrested for violating police instructions.
Cooper has said he understands the pain but feels it is too early and unsafe to lift restrictions.
At the General Assembly, House Speaker Tim Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican, said on Wednesday that he is ready for the governor to begin lifting restrictions for the state soon.
“I think that what the governor did early on based on the data was prudent and smart and I support it,” Moore said about Cooper’s executive orders, including the statewide stay-at-home order.
Moore said that the latest data “is showing we can start reopening the state. Not fully, but start reopening in a phased way and we can do so safely.”
He thinks those phases could start earlier than Cooper has announced.
North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen stressed in a Wednesday afternoon news conference that when it comes to reopening businesses, that it’s important “to find that right balance of protecting public health but getting the economy back on track and getting folks back to work.”
Cohen said she had been on calls with state business leaders Wednesday to discuss the best way for businesses to open while keeping people safe.
Meanwhile, North Carolina’s beach towns are eager to welcome tourists once the state’s stay-at-home order enters Phase 1 on May 9 — providing the state meets certain metrics and benchmarks on testing, tracing and downward trends.
If Phase 1 is allowed to begin then, businesses on the coast might still be able to benefit from Memorial Day crowds, by opening up short-term rentals and public parking.
Coronavirus cases now in 98 of NC’s 100 counties
North Carolina’s coronavirus total rose by another 380 cases Wednesday, leaving the state with just two counties that have reported no cases.
NC DHHS reported 9,948 cases of COVID-19, up nearly 400 from Tuesday’s total. Fatalities from the pandemic hit 354, up 12 from Tuesday.
The virus has now spread to 98 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, leaving only sparsely populated Avery and Yancey with no reported cases of COVID-19.
The state warns that the total is likely higher because not everyone sick with coronavirus has been tested. As of Wednesday, North Carolina had performed 118,440 tests, up more than 5,000 from Tuesday.
The News & Observer is keeping a separate tally based on DHHS and reports from county health departments, which tends to be higher because the state updates its total once a day. On Wednesday morning, that count stood at 10,181 cases and 382 deaths.
Among the recent deaths is a longtime Durham County detention officer, who died over the weekend due to complications from COVID-19.
Alexander Reginald Pettiway, 55, died last Friday at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh. According to a death certificate obtained by the News & Observer, the immediate cause of death is listed as COVID-19 and acute hypoxic respiratory failure.
Promising new drug being tested at UNC
UNC-Chapel Hill researchers announced on Wednesday positive results in clinical trials for a new treatment that reduces the recovery time for patients with COVID-19.
The medication, called remdesivir, which originated in the labs at UNC-CH, has been a critical piece of the effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a game changer for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 and provides hope to many infected,” UNC epidemiologist Ralph Baric said in a statement. Baric works in the UNC Gillings School of Public Health that led lab testing of the broad-spectrum antiviral drug.
The clinical trials for the intravenous drug began this spring as the virus spread, but animal testing for the treatment started at UNC, according to the university.
Cohen calls for more funding
Cohen said Wednesday that the proposed spending package released by the state Senate on Tuesday does not provide “the appropriate level of funding” needed by some communities. Legislators returned to Raleigh to open a new session on Tuesday and began working on a plan to distribute federal coronavirus aid.
Cohen specifically mentioned funding for public health at the state and local levels, for rural and under-served communities, and for food, shelter and other safety items included in the Cooper administration’s proposal.
Cohen also praised the efforts of statewide school nutrition and transportation staff in helping to keep children fed while school buildings have been closed, and announced a new program that will provide an extra $250 per child to the families of 800,000 children eligible for free and reduced lunches.
The aid is for the purchase of food and will be paid in two installments.
NC colleges expect to open for fall classes
As North Carolina college students and faculty are finishing up the spring semester online, university leaders are predicting that campuses will reopen for the Fall 2020 semester.
UNC System interim president Bill Roper said in a statement on Wednesday that individual chancellors will have the flexibility to determine the next steps on campus and off, and that colleges will be able to put “unique precautions” in place to protect students, faculty and staff.
N.C. State University Chancellor Randy Woodson said his university expects a “normal fall opening” with all 36,000 new and returning students on campus in August. Woodson said the school is also preparing to adjust for how COVID-19 might force schools to offer something different, including the “worst case scenario”: a fully online semester.
Roper said that some colleges might consider “staggered or shortened academic calendars, while others may take action to reduce student density in campus housing and classrooms.”
Meanwhile, the UNC System Board of Governors Committee on Budget and Finance voted Wednesday not to raise tuition and fees for the 2020-21 academic year. That proposal will be voted on by the full board at its May meeting.
The board was planning to propose an increase in tuition and fees for the upcoming school year before the pandemic.
Tuition for undergraduates who live in North Carolina has been frozen for the past two years. If there is no increase for this upcoming year, the average annual tuition and fees for undergraduate students at UNC System schools will be about $6,500 for in-state students and just under $20,000 for out-of-state students.
Staff writers Anna Johnson and Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 11:39 AM.