Governor Roy Cooper’s latest effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 is a “modified stay at home/early closure” order that will act as a statewide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Executive Order No. 181 goes into effect at 5 p.m. Friday, December 11, 2020, and lasts through at least Jan. 8, 2021.
According to the order, all individuals in North Carolina must stay at home or at the place they will stay for the night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. except for:
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“We already have strong safety protocols and capacity limitations in place – including a statewide mask requirement. With this additional action beginning Friday, we hope to get these numbers down,” Governor Cooper said Tuesday. “Our new modified Stay At Home order aims to limit gatherings and get people home where they are safer, especially during the holidays. It’s also a reminder that we must be vigilant the rest of the day – wearing a face mask when we are with people we don’t live with, keeping a safe distance from others, and washing our hands a lot.”
Establishments that are subject to this Order include amusement parks and amusement transportation; bars, lounges, indoor venues, and arenas; fitness and physical activity facilities, movie theaters, meeting spaces, and other entertainment facilities; museums and aquariums; parks; personal care businesses; restaurants, breweries, distilleries, and wineries; and certain retail businesses.
The order requires restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, personal care businesses, and others to end all on-premises services at 10 p.m.
Take-out, delivery, drive-thru, and curbside services are permitted during the curfew hours.
The order also stops on-premises alcohol sales at 9 p.m., whether at a bar, restaurant, or by a vendor.
Retail businesses that sell groceries, medication, health care supplies, and fuel may remain open between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), COVID-19 daily diagnoses have been at their highest point to-date since the onset of the pandemic and there have been sustained increases in the percent of total COVID-19 tests that are positive.
Between November 21 and December 4, 2020, over three-fourths of North Carolina counties were experiencing “substantial (orange)” or “critical (red)” COVID-19 community spread, according to the County Alert System developed by the HCDHHS, which evaluates a county’s COVID-19 case counts, percent positives, and hospital capacity.
In the latest report released on Tuesday, Davie County has moved from critical back to substantial indicating that local efforts to curb the spread are working.
Governor Cooper was clear that further action would be taken to slow the spread of the virus if trends do not improve. This could require further limiting of restaurant dining, indoor entertainment or shopping and retail capacity restrictions, among other safety protocols.
You can find the latest updates online at the NC DHHS COIVD-19 Dashboard by clicking here.
For the latest Davie County, NC COVID-19 updates, including information on where to get free testing, visit their website by clicking here.