The state of North Carolina will be under a stay-at-home order, starting at 5 p.m. Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a press conference Friday afternoon.
The order comes after multiple counties and municipalities issued their own orders. Chatham County had been exploring the possibility, County Manager Dan LaMontagne told the News + Record on Thursday, but the state order came before the county could make a formal action.
The county government told the News + Record Friday evening that the county "has no immediate plans to issue additional orders."
“We urge you to start as soon as you possibly can,” Cooper said. “The order allows essential services to continue, and directs that those businesses that need to remain open use a strong social distancing policy. These are tough directives, but I need you to take them seriously.”
The executive order signed by Cooper also prohibits gatherings of 10 people or more — with the exception of funerals, which can have a maximum of 50 — and provides a list of exceptions in the form of “Essential Businesses and Operations.” Those exceptions include healthcare and public health operations, human services operations, stores that sell groceries and medicine and a vast array of other businesses.
The order will be in place for 30 days unless repealed or replaced by another order. Violation of the order is punishable as a Class 2 misdemeanor.
The governor said Friday afternoon that the state had seen 764 cases in 61 counties throughout the state. Chatham County accounted for six of those at the time of Cooper’s announcement.
Mandy Cohen, the secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said early study data from the Centers for Disease Control showed that 21-31 percent of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the US from Feb. 12 to March 16 were hospitalized, with 4-11 percent needing intensive care.
“While these early studies don’t give us the complete picture of the virus – they are certainly extremely worrisome,” Cohen said. “We are aggressively working to learn as much as possible about this virus across the country and here in North Carolina. At the same time, we don’t have the luxury of time. We must act quickly based on what we do know to slow the spread of the virus."
Reporter Zachary Horner can be reached at zhorner@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.