MOYOCK, N.C. — North Carolina saw record coronavirus case numbers over the weekend, prompting Gov. Roy Cooper to tweet a bleak warning.
“Two days in a row of 6,000 plus new cases in North Carolina," Cooper tweeted. "If we don’t slow this trend, more North Carolinians will die.”
Business owners in Moyock also voiced concerns about the rise in COVID-19. They said they're not only concerned about the potential for more restrictions on local stores, they’re also worried about the health of the community.
It’s something business owners are keeping a close eye on, like Louise Harrell.
She is the owner and operator of Southland Trader, a restaurant, gas station and shopping attraction that has been in Moyock for nearly 50 years.
“I am concerned, but concerned more for the people," she said.
Harrell said she is concerned about the potential of new restrictions, or even a lockdown - but community heath comes first, so she’ll follow the rules.
“The safety of everybody, that’s going to be our first concern," she said. "We are going to follow any kind of rules that are presented to us by the governor or the CDC.”
Cooper stopped short of explicitly pointing to new restrictions or a lockdown but said: "...we must honor guidelines & orders to stop COVID-19.”
Another business owner, Valarie Williams, said she believed further restrictions could be avoided if people follow the guidelines already in place. She owns Moyock’s Essentials Salon.
“Just as California just had more restrictions where they were shut down for three weeks, that could easily happen to us,” she said.
“Where you and I having conversations about ‘businesses closing’ but I think the one thing that makes a difference is, as a community, for all of us to wear masks... I do believe that if we wore masks as a community, maybe our numbers will go down and perhaps our businesses won’t have to shut down.”
Dr. Mandy Cohen, the secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, also took note of the rising case numbers over the weekend, pointing to record numbers of hospitalizations and people in the ICU.
She said in a statement: “We are seeing our highest rates of tests that come back positive... This indicates we have even more viral spread across our state right now."