NC Gyms, Playgrounds, Bowling Alleys To Reopen: Gov. Cooper

NORTH CAROLINA — Some North Carolina businesses shuttered under months of pandemic restrictions in the state will be allowed to reopen this week with some restrictions, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday. The new executive order — called "Safer at Home, Phase 2.5" — will also allow outdoor visits at nursing homes.

"We’re encouraged to see North Carolina holding steady on most and decreasing on some of our key data metrics," Cooper said. "Every time you wear your mask or social distance, you’re helping our statewide numbers so we can ease restrictions."

North Carolina current "Phase 2" restrictions, which initially went into effect May 22, have been extended and were set to expire Sept. 11. Under the current restrictions, retail and restaurant operations are allowed at 50 percent capacity; gatherings are limited to 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors; teleworking is encouraged.

The "Safer at Home, Phase 2.5" executive order goes into effect Friday, Sept. 4, and includes:

• Limits on mass gatherings will increase to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors
• Playgrounds will reopen
• Museums and aquariums can open at 50 percent capacity
• Gyms and other indoor exercise facilities, such as bowling alleys, can open at 30 percent capacity.
• The age requirement for mask wearing will include children down to age 5
• Capacity limits at restaurants, nail salons and hair salons will remain the same
• Remaining closed are bars, nightclubs, movie theaters, indoor entertainment and amusement parks
• The statewide 11 p.m. curfew on alcohol sales extended to Oct. 2.

"The numbers are stable and some of them are declining, so that's positive," Cooper said, adding that the easing of restrictions will also help the economy.

The number of people going to hospitals with COVID-19 like symptoms in North Carolina has steadily declined in the past month, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said. Hospitalizations have declined since a peak in late July, however the numbers remain elevated, she added.

And while the number of lab-confirmed cases in the state have stabilized since early July 1, the number of new cases reported daily "remains at a level that is too high," Cohen said, pointing to Tuesday's increase of more than 2,000 cases in the span of a day.

"The unfortunate truth is that this virus is not over," she said.

The number of known coronavirus cases in North Carolina increased by 2,111 cases Tuesday, increasing the state's tally of COVID-19 cases to 169,424, DHHS reported.

The state's virus death toll also rose by 39 Tuesday, increasing the number of lives lost to COVID-19 in the state to 2,741. On a national level, coronavirus was responsible for more than 183,000 deaths in the U.S., Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday afternoon.

As of Sept. 1, about 6.7 percent of tests in North Carolina were positive, according to DHHS data.

Hospitalizations increased slightly overnight in North Carolina. As of Tuesday, 946 patients were hospitalized with coronavirus-related illness, 23 more than reported Monday. A Sept. 1 survey of 92 percent of the state's hospitals reported that there were 6,371 empty staffed inpatient hospital beds and 626 empty staffed intensive care unit beds remaining in the state. Ventilators also remained in supply, according to the survey, with 2,399 remaining available, DHHS said.

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