RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper says reopening commerce in North Carolina will be done slowly and on a calculated basis.
The Democrat from Nash County briefed the state on Wednesday afternoon, saying “I know the changes that we’ve all made in our lives seem to have happened very quickly. Undoing those changes won’t happen as fast. To protect our health and long-term economic prosperity, we have to act with care, rather than haste.”
More than 600,000 North Carolinians have filed unemployment claims in the last four weeks. Companies have scaled back or closed, many of them forced by executive orders from the governor related to how close they do business with customers.
Cooper said until a vaccine or effective treatment is available, a new normal could be partially full restaurants, sporting events without fans, and concerts without an audience. His 30-day stay at home order sunsets on April 29, and is subject to be rescinded before then or extended beyond.
His office issued a news release about the same time he met with the media. In it, he said testing, tracing and trends would determine how the state’s economy comes back to life.
The Department of Health and Human Services is working with the public and private sectors to get virus testing and antibody testing more widely available. The release said, “Tracing requires the state to boost the public health workforce and ability to trace contacts of new cases of COVID-19. Contact tracing can be effective at containing new outbreaks, but it requires more personnel.”
The trends, the governor said, would help determine how and when to ease restrictions.
The release gave no timeline associated with adding more personnel, or what timeframe would be the measure for trends. There were also no specifics to lifting restrictions, such as for hair and nail salons that he closed March 25.
“Because we acted early and because we acted together,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen of DHHS, “we have averted the devastating scenarios we have seen playing out in other parts of our country and across the globe. We now need to look ahead at how we stay ahead of the curve. Widespread testing, aggressive contact tracing, and data-informed policy decisions are our best tools to keep our communities safe and protect our frontline workers.”
Gov. Roy Cooper (left), flanked by Dr. Mandy Cohen of DHHS, said Wednesday the state would reopen commerce slowly and on a calculated basis. Specifics for when and how were not given.
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