RALEIGH, N.C. — In Governor Roy Cooper's 3 p.m. briefing on North Carolina's coronavirus response, he added a new stay-at-home order for businesses and North Carolina residents that was meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Starting on Friday, December 11, Cooper said there would be a modified stay-at-home order that would require people to stay home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
He said businesses would be required to close by 10 p.m., and on-site alcohol sales at restaurants would need to end at 9 p.m.
Cooper said those businesses included "restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, personal care businesses and most retail stores and more."
Here are some exemptions from the nighttime stay-at-home order: travel to and from work, to obtain food, medical care, fuel or social services; or to take care of a family member.
The governor said vigilance would still be required for people, the rest of the hours of the day.
"A month ago, we were deeply concerned to see daily case counts go above 3,000," Cooper said. "Now, we're shocked that the number has doubled, with some daily counts at more than 6,000."
A release from the governor's office said the order will last through at least January 8, 2021.
Since Saturday, there were two days of more than 6,000 new cases reported in the state, and both Monday and Tuesday each brought more than 4,000 new cases.
In all, since March, there had been 404,032 cases by Tuesday morning, and 5,605 COVID-19 deaths.
"Let me be clear, we will do more if our trends do not improve," the governor said in his briefing. Cooper said those additional actions could affect "indoor restaurant dining, entertainment facilities or shopping and retail capacity."
"None of us wants that," he said.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services website offers a COVID-19 dashboard to track health metrics related to coronavirus. On that page, there has been a steep increase of new cases since November 10.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, the secretary of the health department, painted a grim picture of the state's COVID-19 metrics. She said they were not seeing the true impact from Thanksgiving gatherings yet, but these were the state's conditions in the first week of December:
- The trajectory of COVID-like syndromic cases in hospitals is up
- The trajectory of the number of coronavirus cases is up
- The trajectory of positive tests, as a percentage of total tests, is up
- The trajectory of hospitalizations is increasing, but hospitals are still able to manage current capacity.
Cohen urged people to wear masks, practice social distancing and continue to wash their hands.
"News of effective and safe vaccines has given us all hope - but vaccines aren't here yet," Cooper said.