North Carolina is extending Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 reopening plans for five more weeks, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Wednesday.
This means nightclubs and bars that operate as “private clubs” under state alcohol laws, bowling alleys, skating rinks, movie theaters and some other places that people congregate must remain closed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Owners had hoped to get back into operation on Friday when an executive order keeping them closed was set to expire.
These have been closed since March.
Cooper’s decision comes as North Carolina’s COVID-19 hospitalization rates appear to have leveled off and the infection report statistics have stabilized or started to fall but remain higher than state health officials prefer. And it comes as schools and colleges are starting to reopen, creating potential for infections to rise again as students are around each other and teachers and staff.
“As I said last week, stable is good, but decreasing is better,” Cooper said during a news conference. “And while we are seeing stabilization of our numbers, that doesn’t mean we can let up. We know this stability is fragile, and these trends can change quickly if we let down our guards.”
Hospitals in other states were beaten when his COVID closures rose faster, Cooper said, and he needs a similar scenario here that can lead to more ailments and deaths.
As of Wednesday, North Carolina has recorded 2,050 COVID-19 deaths and had 1,167 people hospitalized, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
As of Wednesday, the state had 129288 laboratory-confirmed cases of other people with coronavirus and, on Monday, 105,093 suspected cures of the disease.
Owners of closed bars and other businesses have wondered why they remain closed, while others, for example, craft breweries that brew their beer on site and restaurants serving alcohol, have been allowed to open and let the public in.
Cooper on Wednesday defended his policy as a tool to slow the spread of the virus and drive down the infection rates.
“There is a difference in which these were manufactured, made on the site, and in addition, the small number of those breweries and craft wineries presented a forged public protection plan to the Department of Health and Human Services, noting that the idea of the experts would work,” the governor said.
Other states reopened bars to their detriment, Cooper noted.
“We know these are high-transmission areas, and that’s why they have remained closed,” he said.
Cooper said he had recently instituted an 11 p.m. curfew in alcohol sales in restaurants “because we were getting data on how to turn restaurants into bars after hours.
The closure is extended another five weeks instead of a shorter period such as two or three weeks, Cooper said, because “we want to make sure what is happening with our numbers with schools reopening over the next several weeks.”
You can contact Paul Woolverton at [email protected] and 910-261-4710.
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