Raleigh, NC – More customers will be allowed to enter restaurants, bars, retail stores, gyms and other businesses as North Carolina once again eases its restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus.
Governor Roy Cooper’s executive order with the latest changes, which also include an end to the curfew at 11 pm for sales of alcohol for consumption on the premises, takes effect at 5 pm on Friday.
Cooper said the eased rules are possible because North Carolina’s trend lines with the virus continue to improve.
The state has reached the target of 5% or less for positive coronavirus tests for much of the past two weeks, although the rate was 6.3% on Tuesday. The daily average of new infections remains below 2,000, and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 remains below 1,000.
In addition, more people are vaccinated against the virus every day. Nearly 19% of North Carolina adults are fully immunized, while another 13% received their first injection on a two-dose regimen.
“I am pleased that we are stable and our numbers remain stable,” Cooper said during a news conference.
Under the new executive order, the following capacity limits have been changed:
- Retail stores, beauty salons, barber shops, museums and aquariums can resume operations at 100% capacity. All have been capped at 50 percent of capacity previously.
- Restaurants, breweries, wineries, gyms, swimming pools, skating rinks, bowling alleys and amusement parks can operate at 75% of internal capacity and 100% of external capacity. All were limited to 50 percent of the capacity.
- Bars, cinemas, conference centers and arenas can operate at 50% of internal and external capacity. The bars were allowed to reopen to in-house customers just a month ago, and they and the entertainment arenas were limited to 30 percent capacity or 250 people, whichever is less.
In addition, Cooper’s new order doubles the limits of large meetings, to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. The internal collection limit was 10 people until a month ago.
In all cases, Cooper said, companies will be required to maintain at least 6 feet of distance between customers, meaning that some companies may not be able to reach the new capacity limits.
“These are significant changes, but they can be made safely,” said Cooper. “But I emphasize this: this pandemic is not over yet. We can only keep this virus under control while easing restrictions if people act responsibly and follow security protocols.”
To that end, the mask’s statewide mandate will remain in effect under the new order.
“We are excited to bring more people, [but] for us, the driving factor will still be distance, “said Greg Hatem, owner of several restaurants in downtown Raleigh.” The goal is to keep everyone safe. We don’t want to serve chicken kebobs with one side of COVID. “
Parker Kennedy, owner of Cafe Luna in downtown Raleigh, reconfigured one of his dining rooms according to the new guidelines and said he could accommodate 30 people inside.
“Everything is 6 feet away,” said Kennedy. “The situation is improving every day.”
Hatem said the changes will affect more customers, noting that he is looking for more employees to help them serve them. His team now has about 60% of what it was before the pandemic.
“It’s great because people want to come back, they want to enjoy life, they want to have fun,” said a resident of Raleigh who identified himself only as “Clifton.”
Carolina Hurricanes immediately made more tickets available for Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay, and tickets for the next games at the PNC Arena in Raleigh will go on sale next week.
“We have seen, heard and felt the impact that our Caniacs have had since we reopened our doors earlier this month. We remain interested in increasing capacity and will do so safely,” tweeted Hurricanes President and General Manager Don Waddell.
But Heather Strickland, executive director of the Raleigh Little Theater, said there was still a lot of planning to do to ensure the safety of theatergoers before she sells more tickets.
“Part of that is just making sure that we have enough staff to help make sure that people are masked and distanced, “said Strickland.” Thousand people [in the outdoor amphitheater] sounds like one crowd. That’s just it, orisk will above. The bigger the crowd, the greater the risk of spreading COVID, and we no – absolutely not – want to be a place where this potential is at high risk ”.
Zack Medford, president of the North Carolina Bars and Taverns Association, tempered his excitement with the increase in capacity limits and the end of the 11pm alcohol sales curfew with continued criticism of how state regulations were tough on consumers. bars during the pandemic.
“Operating any business with drastically limited capacity and hours is an immense task, especially when your business has been forced to close for more than 11 months. We are very excited to see a return to normal,” Medford said in a statement. “Bars still face stricter limitations unfairly than restaurant bars, hotel bars and strip club bars, but being able to serve until 2 am is a game changer.”
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, said that bars remain a place of greatest risk for the transmission of the virus, which is why the limits are stricter than restaurants. People are without masks for longer periods and are noisy, noisy and less inhibited from drinking, she said.
Darren Bridger, co-owner of the London Bridge Pub in downtown Raleigh, said his team is ready to receive more customers and continue to serve drinks until 2 am.
“This will help, of course, but nothing will make up for the loss of revenue last year,” said Bridger, noting that the state that postponed the last call from 9 pm to 11 pm last month increased business by 50 percent.
“If we can make that leap again by going to 2 am, we would be very comfortable leaving everything behind and using that as our starting point,” he said. “Many people are saying that they are ready for the end [and] let’s just move on, but I think it is prudent to continue with 50 percent capacity at least until we know what the impact of 2 am is. “
Dr. David Wohil, an infectious disease specialist at UNC Health, agrees that it is too early to open everything back.
“I won’t be going to restaurants anytime soon. I will not be doing live performances, “said Wohl.” We are not out of danger – we are far from out of danger – and we could see a resurgence as we are seeing in Europe ”.
WRAL reporters Keely Arthur, Leslie Moreno and Kirsten Gutiérrez contributed to this report.