Updates from Gov. Cooper’s COVID-19 briefing:
Last month, our state took strong actions to slow the spread of this pandemic. We know these actions saved lives, but we also know we can’t keep staying at home in the long run. Now we know what’s needed to transition out of the restrictions and what a new normal will look like.
Last week, we laid out some general steps on the path forward. We need an increase in testing, more tracing and we need our trends to be heading in the right direction. The White House shared similar guidance with states and we have incorporated much of that guidance in our plan.
After a thorough analysis of the details of testing, tracing, and trends, and having conversations with Trump Administration officials like Dr. Fauci, it’s clear that we are on the right path but that our state is not ready to lift restrictions yet.
We need to slow the virus before we can ease restrictions, so today I’m extending the Stay At Home order until May 8. This includes continued closure of dine-in restaurants, bars & close-contact businesses like hair and nail salons, movie theaters & others in Executive Order 120.
It’s important to get our economy moving forward. We’re helping with unemployment payments, stimulus money & the businesses that continue to be open. But I won’t risk the health of our people or our hospitals. And easing these restrictions now would do that.
This decision is based on the data that we see in our critical categories. I know people want our lives and our livelihoods back, and I have a plan to do that. But first we will need to hit certain metrics in order to do that.
I appreciate our team’s work to make sure we can make the best use of data & science available to guide our decisions. That decision-making process also included members of the business community who’ve provided input on how they can safely operate and their input will continue.
We have developed a three-stage plan to move forward that stimulates the economy while protecting our health. While the Stay At Home order will continue until May 8, I want to share some details of our plan so people can understand how we’ll gradually ease these restrictions.
In the first phase, the Stay At Home order will stay in place, but it will be modified to allow more reasons to leave home, including commercial activities at any business allowed to be open, such as clothing stores, sporting goods stores, book shops and other kinds of retailers.
Those retailers and services will still need to implement social distancing for their employees and their customers, plus enhanced hygiene and cleaning, and to screen employees for symptoms.
Mass gatherings will stay limited to 10 people or less. Our parks can re-open if they follow the mass gathering limitation. Face coverings will still be recommended when social distancing isn’t possible. The same restrictions will remain in place for congregate living settings.
After a minimum of 2-3 weeks has passed & we continue to hit our marks, we can enter Phase 2. Here, the Stay At Home order can be lifted, but we will still encourage vulnerable populations to continue to stay at home.
Houses of worship, restaurants, bars and other businesses can open their doors for people as long as they operate at reduced capacity. The number of people allowed in a mass gathering will be increased.
After a minimum of 4-6 weeks has passed & we continue to hit our marks, we can enter Phase 3. Vulnerable population guidance will continue to loosen. There'll be increased capacity at bars, restaurants, other businesses & houses of worship. The mass gathering ban will increase.
In all of these phases, strict rules will continue to apply to nursing homes and other congregate living facilities.
If infections spike or our benchmark trends start to move in the wrong direction, we may move to move back to a previous phase to protect our public health. We’ll continue using the best science & data available consulting with business leaders to make those decisions.
We know we won’t go back to the way we lived in January or February soon. We need a vaccine & we need more ways to determine our level of immunity. But if we keep protecting ourselves and return to work & play carefully, we can rebuild the damage this virus has done to our state.
North Carolinians are tough. We’ve been through trying times. And I know that we will tap that resiliency to look out for each other, encourage each other and support each other as we beat this virus. And we will beat this virus.
