ELIZABETHTOWN — People are to stay home, and businesses are open.
We might have lost March Madness in the form of a college basketball tournament, but the coronavirus has provided us a challenge worthy of adding a Ph. D., M.D. or at least some kind of spreadsheet to keep up with what we can and can’t do, much less where we can go and if that place might be open when we get there.
The majority know the health part. If we have fever, cough and other lower respiratory illness to include shortness of breath, call a health-care provider. Or the Bladen County Health Department.
Feeling sick but not quite all of those? Stay home. Stay away from everyone.
Older and have underlying health issues? Stay home. Stay away from everyone. The risk is great.
Meanwhile our economy is limping if not just plain crawling. Cabin fever is tough in the spring, when colors are turning and the longing to be outside is great — especially at White Lake or the beach.
Some want to patronize and help struggling local businesses. Others need essentials.
So a lot of people under orders to stay home are going out. And then come the questions: Why is this business open but another closed?
There are varying answers, and a lot of theories — many of which are futile to try and prove.
There are the executive orders of the governor, and there are the proclamations of State of Emergency in the county and some of its municipalities. These vary in direction.
Here’s five worth knowing:
• Open for business: Gov. Roy Cooper issued his first executive order related to the coronavirus on March 10, a move to declare a State of Emergency for all of North Carolina. Numerically, it is No. 116; we got No. 131 on Thursday for those keeping score.
Limiting operations of restaurants and bars went into effect March 17 at 5 p.m. This limited sale of food and beverages to carry-out, drive-through and delivery. It came ahead of a night of St. Patrick’s Day revelry and it was originally to expire March 31. That was extended and is still in effect.
It includes but is not limited to restaurants, cafeterias, food halls, dining halls, food kiosks at airports and shopping centers or educational institutions, food courts, and private or members-only clubs where food and beverages are permitted to be consumed on premises.
Bars were defined as establishments that are not restaurants, that have a permit to sell alcoholic beverages for onsite consumption. That means those that sell beer, wine and liquor only for off-site consumption were not affected. Breweries, wineries and distilleries were also not affected.
Cooper’s order says the mass gathering limit, then a recommendation of no more than 100, didn’t include office environments, factories, grocery stores or child care centers. Grocers and retailers got tighter rules Thursday, to include limits on how many people can be inside an establishment based on fire marshal code or people per square foot of retail space, and instructions for marking areas where people are likely to gather such as checkout lines.
Emergency maximum occupancy becomes a part of our lexicon by Monday at 5 p.m.
• Closed: An order from Cooper taking effect at 5 p.m. March 25 put a limit on gatherings at 50 and shuttered what were deemed as “close-contact businesses.”
Those included bingo parlors and bingo sites, bowling alleys, indoor exercise facilities, health clubs, indoor pools, live performance venues, movie theaters, skating rinks, spas, sweepstakes lounges, video game arcades, barber shops, beauty salons, hair salons, nail salons, massage parlors and tattoo parlors.
• Down to 10: On March 27, Cooper took the gathering size down to no more than 10 while also enacting a stay at home order to last 30 days, through April 29. This went into effect March 30 at 5 p.m.
This was order No. 121, and it outlined essential businesses while instructing all other non-essentials to close. Some were easily defined: federal and state critical infrastructure, health care, and human service operations.
The rest were very broad. It included essential infrastructure operations, such as food and beverage distributors; stores selling groceries and medicine; manufacturers of food, beverage and agriculture; organizations providing charitable and social services; religious entities; media; gas stations and businesses needed for transportation; financial and insurance institutions; home improvement, hardware and supply stores; critical trades, such as painters and heating and air conditioning; mail, shipping and logistics; educational institutions, though he had closed public schools already; laundry services; office supply manufacturers and retailers; transportation, like automobile dealers; professional services, such as accountants and real estate agents; motels and hotels; and funeral services, which were exempt to allow 50 people for funerals.
• White Lake: The town was pretty much alone in the county with its inclusion of some commerce restrictions in its State of Emergency. As a residential resort community, it arguably lends itself to such a need.
It went effect March 27 and prohibited nonresident property owners or renters from even entering the town. Rentals of less than 90 days were forbidden until at least April 30, with exceptions to those providing essential public services as determined by the town. Street parking by unauthorized vehicles is not allowed.
The town doesn’t own the lake, and it remains open for boaters. However the launch available to the public for a fee at White Lake Marina closed a week later on April 3, a decision made by the owners. Thus, boating is allowed but is pretty well restricted to those with a boat in the water who live at the lake.
• Exemptions: So amid all the do’s and don’ts for businesses to be open and closed, there was one clause that potentially opened the door for any business.
Along with Cooper’s No. 121 was the provision that any business not included in the essential services list does have the opportunity to apply through the internet to the N.C. Department of Revenue to be designated essential.
At least two businesses in Elizabethtown are known to have done so, and each was granted approval. There may be others who applied.
In one of the letters, obtained by the Bladen Journal, Revenue Secretary Ronald Penny wrote, “After carefully reviewing your application, the Department has determined that your business does not qualify to be designated essential under Sections 2(C)(2)–(30) of the Executive Order. However, your business may continue to operate so long as it can operate in accordance with the following Social Distancing Requirements in Executive Order No. 121.”
And it listed the 6-foot social distance rule, hand washing instructions, regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces, and facilitating remote access by customers if possible.