Cooper tries to address confusion and criticism over how his orders affect churches
Gov. Roy Cooper’s office tried Tuesday to clear up confusion and address criticism over attendance limits for indoor worship services in his stay-at-home order.
The order allows more than 10 people to attend indoor worship services, if there is no other alternative, said a memo from his office.
His office produced a memo on indoor worship after county sheriffs said they did not agree with restrictions on maximum indoor church attendance.
The state has begun gradually easing restrictions in Cooper’s stay-at-home order, but challenges to the order and the pace of reopening continue.
Retail businesses — regardless of whether they were deemed essential — were allowed to reopen last Friday at up to 50% occupancy as part of Phase One of Cooper’s plan.
A resolution the NC Sheriffs’ Association sent to Cooper dated May 8 said they believed that limits on worship service attendance should not be more stringent than restrictions on retail stores. The association distributed its resolution and the memo from Cooper’s office on Tuesday. Some Republican legislators also criticized the restrictions on indoor worship service attendance, The News & Observer reported.
The memo from Cooper’s office said it does not override the executive orders, but offers “helpful guidance.”
There is no limit on the number of people who can attend an outdoor worship service or wedding, the memo said. Indoor services can be adapted to have people in separate rooms, or to have a series of services with 10 or fewer people.
If it is not possible to conduct services outdoors or make accommodations for indoor services, the 10-person indoor limit does not apply, the memo said. While indoors, participants should follow recommendations on reducing transmission, the memo said.
Additionally, up to 50 people may attend an indoor funeral.
At a Tuesday news conference, Cooper defended attendance limits for indoor worship services, and challenged the comparison to retail.
People who are sitting indoors in one place are more likely to spread the coronavirus than people who are up and moving around, he said.
“We are aware of First Amendment rights and want to protect those,” he said. “There’s permission for outside church services if there is appropriate social distancing.”
Cooper said he hopes “ministers and church leaders will put the health of their congregations at the head of their thinking here and realize it’s dangerous to hold indoor services.”
North Carolina coronavirus cases
North Carolina has reached 15,346 reported coronavirus cases in 99 of the state’s 100 counties, with 577 deaths, according to a Tuesday report from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Avery County is the lone county without a positive reported case of the virus. According to information provided on the county website, there have been 421 administered tests for the virus and 339 people who tested negative. There are 82 pending cases in the county.
DHHS reported Tuesday that there were 301 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina and 27 additional deaths since Monday. There were 6,379 tests in the 24-hour period, with 4.7% testing positive for the virus.
A total of 202,244 tests have been completed, according to the DHHS data. There are currently 475 people hospitalized, nine more than reported Monday.
North Carolina lags behind most states in testing, The News & Observer reported last week. Of 55 states and territories, North Carolina was 43rd in one key measure — with just under 16 tests completed for every 1,000 people in the state.
In the last two weeks of April, according to a News & Observer analysis of state data, the state was reporting an average of 3,932 new tests per day.
State officials are reporting more than 9,000 people in North Carolina have recovered from the coronavirus. In an online news conference Monday, Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said an estimate of recoveries would now be included in the data updates provided by DHHS on its website.
The first report was posted Monday, showing an estimated 9,115 patients are “presumed to be recovered” from COVID-19. The estimate is based on time, DHHS told the N&O. Non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients who haven’t died are presumed to be recovered 14 days after testing positive; hospitalized patients who haven’t died are presumed to be recovered 28 days after testing positive.
The News & Observer is keep its own tally of coronavirus cases based on data from state and county health departments. As of Tuesday night, there were 15,623 cases and 600 deaths across the state.
North Carolina reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 3. In the early weeks of the pandemic, confirmed cases doubled every two to three days, The News & Observer reported. As of Tuesday, cases were doubling every 19 days.
More places to get tested
Federally-funded testing sites are opening at commercial retail locations across the state, with two locations now open in Durham and Greenville, The News & Observer reported.
The NC Department of Health and Human Services will begin posting locations on its website later this week, Cooper said Tuesday.
People who meet guidelines can sign up for testing at the Durham Walgreens at 3793 Guess Road, or the Greenville Walmart at 210 Greenville Blvd. SW. The testing is provided at no cost. People who qualify will be 18 or older and will not have severe symptoms, such as a persistent fever higher than 102 degrees or severe shortness of breath.
Republican elected officials want to talk
On Tuesday, Republican members of the Council of State sent Cooper a letter asking for a meeting to discuss how to safely reopen more businesses. Barber shops, salons and gyms are among the businesses that remain closed. Restaurants are allowed only take-out and delivery service.
The Republican statewide elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, said in their letter that they want to discuss allowing healthy North Carolinians to return to work. Forest is running for governor against Cooper.
“The citizens of North Carolina, especially those in need of protecting their livelihoods, are looking to our state leaders to come together and reopen responsibility as soon as possible,” they wrote.
Asked about their letter, Cooper said the pandemic response should be nonpartisan.
“I’ve been on the phone with the White House every week. I’ve signed a unanimous pandemic budget,” he said.
“I know that people are hurting because of the virus and I know that our economy is hurting because of the virus. But the health of our people and the health of our economy go hand in hand.”
The fifth reopen protest
A group called ReOpen NC, which opposes restrictions in Cooper’s stay-at-home order, has been holding weekly protests in Raleigh. More than a 1,000 people attended earlier protests, but the more recent rallies, including the protest Tuesday, have drawn smaller crowds, The News & Observer reported.
Protesters marched to the Executive Mansion chanting “USA!” and “Cooper’s got to go.”
A small plane with a counter message circled downtown trailing the banner “Fewer graves if we reopen in waves.”
A Whole Foods employee tests positive for the coronavirus
A Cary Whole Foods employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, The News & Observer reported.
A Whole Foods spokeswoman did not say when the worker at the Alston Town Center store in West Cary tested positive, but said in an email the employee is in quarantine.
Whole Foods has installed plexiglass barriers at check-out counters.
Brian Murphy, Josh Shaffer, Jonathan M. Alexander, Colin Campbell, David Raynor, and Lucille Sherman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 11:35 AM.
