Grassroots effort demands that NC relax coronavirus rules. But state says they’re working.
A group with a fast-growing social media presence is lambasting Gov. Roy Cooper’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and demanding that restrictions be removed so businesses can open their doors again.
State officials say the stay-at-home restrictions for North Carolina are necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
ReopenNC calls Cooper’s executive orders unconstitutional and says curtailing citizens’ civil liberties and damaging the economy is doing more harm than COVID-19 is inflicting. The group’s Facebook page, started last Tuesday, grew to include more than 15,000 members by Sunday.
ReopenNC’s emergence comes as the state’s Department of Health and Human Services reported 4,520 coronavirus cases with 81 deaths among North Carolina’s 10.5 million residents as of Sunday morning. The number of hospitalizations due to the virus decreased slightly to 331.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, said Thursday that the state’s restrictions are working.
“We still have a long way to go,” Cohen said. “Together we are still accomplishing what we set out to do. We are slowing the spread of this virus so fewer people get sick at the same time and our hospitals are there for those who need care. We are doing this. We are coming together and creating a powerful response to COVID-19.”
‘We are an action group’
Ashley Smith, listed as one of ReopenNC’s Facebook page administrators, posted a two-minute video on her personal Facebook page on Thursday urging North Carolina officials to relax social restrictions and allow businesses to reopen. She called the current orders Cooper has in place a “draconian, communistic government move.”
“This shutdown cannot continue,” Smith said on the video. “The science, the data, does not support our state continuing to be out of work. Our economy cannot handle this.”
The group encourages its members to contact state officials as well as their local sheriffs to demand a return to normal operating procedures.
“It’s time to stop asking nicely and start demanding our freedom,” Smith said.
In a Facebook Live video on Sunday on the ReopenNC page, she encouraged group members to abide by laws while voicing their beliefs, saying, “We are not a hate group. We are an action group.”
Smith also stands against Cooper’s orders against gatherings of 10 or more people, which doesn’t provide exceptions for church services.
“How many holidays are going to go by that we are just going to continue not to worship?” Smith said. “How many Sundays are going to pass that we are going to forfeit our right to worship? We have a constitution that is in place to recognize our inalienable, God-given rights. These rights are not granted by the government and they are not taken away by the government.”
What the prediction model says
Cooper’s stay-at-home order is in effect until April 29. He said he will consult scientific modeling on coronavirus’ spread while also taking into account economic factors before deciding whether to extend it or let it expire.
A predictive model by scientists from UNC and Duke, released Monday, said if that order is extended beyond April, the state’s number of cases could be capped at 250,000.
Removing that order at the end of April could see the number of cases grow to as many as 750,000, which could overwhelm the healthcare system.
“Social distancing and staying at home is our best weapon in this fight,” Cooper said during a news conference last Tuesday. “I know many of you are wondering if this North Carolina model means our stay at home order will continue into May. My answer is we just don’t know yet.”
Cooper ordered schools and all non-essential businesses closed last month in an effort to slow the pandemic’s effects. Grocery stores and home improvement stores, like Home Depot or Lowe’s, are allowed to remain open for business.
Cooper signed his latest order Thursday that limits occupancy in those essential businesses to 20% of their code capacities or five people per 1,000 square feet. These new restrictions take effect at 5 p.m on Monday.
That can’t come fast enough for Smith and her group, who are planning rallies and events while staying within what she calls the “ridiculous” restrictions on social gathering.
She said the group will be “relentless” in its approach.
“We want them to be hearing us in their sleep,” Smith said during Sunday’s Facebook Live post. “We want to be that squeaky wheel.”