Gov. Cooper Issues New Modified Stay-At-Home for North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA — As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the state, North Carolina is reverting to a modified stay-at-home order, state governor Roy Cooper, said Tuesday. The news comes on the heels of the state reporting three single-day records in COVID-19 counts in the last week.

The new executive order, which goes into effect Friday, Dec. 11, orders residents to stay in their homes between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., and takes aim at social gatherings going into the holiday season, Cooper said.

"It means just what it says: people are to stay at home between those hours," Cooper said.

"This stay-at-home order tells people they need to go home," he said.

The order will be in effect until Jan. 8, 2021.

North Carolina reported 4,670 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, upping the state's tally of COVID-19 cases to 404,032. The rise in cases increases the percentage of positive cases, which state health officials want below 5 percent, to 9.7 percent, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services data.

As of Dec. 8, coronavirus had claimed at least 5,605 lives since March. At least 321 North Carolinians have died from COVID-19 in the span of the past seven days, according to DHHS data. Statewide hospitalizations also rose to a new high Tuesday. According to DHHS data, at least 2,373 patients sought medical treatment for coronavirus illness, an increase of 133 patients reported since Monday.

Under the new modified stay-at-home order:

• Businesses, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, personal care businesses and most retail stores will be required to close by 10 p.m.
• Retail stores exempt from the 10 p.m. closures include those that sell groceries, medication, health care supplies and fuel.
• All onsite alcohol sales must end by 9 p.m.
• Capacity limitations on certain businesses, as well as limits of no more than 10 gathered indoors and 50 gathered outdoors will be extended through Jan. 8, 2021.
• Workers are recommended to work from home whenever possible.
• Face coverings continue to be required in all public indoor settings

SEE ALSO: Most In NC Will Seek Coronavirus Vaccine: Survey Results

North Carolina hospitals are "feeling the strain" of coronavirus spread, DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said. "We are setting records both for people hospitalized for COVID-19 and the number of people in the intensive care unit," Cohen said.

The numbers are expected to go higher soon because the recent jump in cases likely do not yet reflect the total impact of Thanksgiving gatherings, she added.

The number of North Carolina counties considered to have critical levels of community spread have more than doubled in the past two weeks, Cohen said.

According to the state's new color-coded COVID-19 County Alert System, 48 counties are now considered "red," up from 20 reported Nov. 23, while 34 counties are "orange" due to substantial community spread.

"If you are in a red or orange county, you should limit going out to essential activities," Cohen said. "You should avoid people that you don't live with."

More information about the order may be found here.