NC Gov. Cooper lifts most coronavirus mask, distancing requirements
North Carolinians can feel free to move about without wearing masks in most settings, inside and outside, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ease, Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday.
Cooper’s announcement comes a day after new guidelines released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said people who are fully vaccinated can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by state and local rules or where required by private businesses and employers.
North Carolina went a step further Friday, by lifting mask requirements for everyone, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not.
“That means in most settings, indoors or outdoors, the state of North Carolina will no longer require you to wear a mask or to be socially distant,” Cooper said at a press conference Friday afternoon. “This is a big step forward, in living our lives the way they were before the pandemic.”
Cooper said the indoor mask requirement will remain in effect on public transportation and in child care centers, schools, camps, prisons and certain health care settings, such as nursing homes.
The state Department of Health and Human Services recommends that people who have not been vaccinated continue to wear masks.
The CDC’s surprise announcement was the strongest sign yet that COVID-19 vaccines are allowing life to get back to normal.
“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director, said at the White House on Thursday.
Capacity limits also lifted in NC
Cooper also did away with all limits on the number of people who can gather in one place or patronize businesses. The state had most recently capped most outdoor gatherings to 100 people and indoor gatherings to 50 people and continued to limit the operations of restaurants, fitness centers, bars, sports and concert venues.
That change means the Carolina Hurricanes could have a bigger crowd for the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs Monday against the Nashville Predators at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The arena can seat 18,680 for hockey, but state social-distancing requirements have limited the Hurricanes to fewer than 5,000 fans since late March.
Hurricanes General Manager Don Waddell said NHL ventilation requirements would still limit the capacity to 12,000 until HVAC upgrades can be completed, The News & Observer reported. The Canes say all fans will be required to wear masks in the arena.
After Cooper scheduled Friday’s press conference, state Senate leader Phil Berger put out a statement calling on him to “immediately withdraw North Carolina’s mask mandate.”
“Imposing personal restrictions on those who pose no public health risk is senseless and will further undermine what trust remains in public health authorities,” Berger said.
Many retailers and other businesses are not expected to drop their mask requirements right away. After all, a majority of adults nationwide, about 55%, are not fully vaccinated for the coronavirus, according to the CDC.
As of Friday, about 46% of adults 18 and older in North Carolina have been fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Of those 65 and older, who are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, that number is more than 75%.
This month, the federal government approved the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in children between ages 12 and 15. But there is no vaccine available for children younger than 12, which is partly why the mask mandates remain in schools, camps and child care centers.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said she’ll follow CDC guidelines and continue to have her own children, ages 6 and 9, wear a mask in indoor public places.
“You are likely going to see me wear a mask when I’m with my kids to show that we’re in this as a family, and they can understand that they are wearing masks because they are unvaccinated,” Cohen said.
Cooper’s most recent executive order, which went into effect two weeks ago, said people no longer need to wear masks outdoors in North Carolina. But Cooper said at the time that COVID-19 was still too prevalent to fully lift restrictions.
Cooper had said he expected to lift all pandemic restrictions by June 1, because of the growing number of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as well as progress in curbing spread of the virus.
Since the pandemic began more than a year ago, 989,338 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in North Carolina, according to the state, and 12,862 have died of COVID-19.
The state also reported that 925 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, with more than a quarter of them requiring intensive care.
“While today’s news means that we are even closer to putting this behind us, it doesn’t mean we are there yet,” Cooper said. “The pandemic is still here, especially for those who are not vaccinated.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 1:20 PM.
