North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper moved the goal posts for reopening the state’s economy, again, at his press conference on Thursday, April 30.
Cooper said that in order to start reopening the state’s economy, “We need working North Carolinians to trust that they will feel safe as we move forward.”
Cooper said, “In order for people to be with us there has to be trust and knowledge that they can feel safe when they work and shop and eat out.”
When Cooper ordered the shutdown of the state’s economy with the stay-at-home order that went into effect on March 30, the reason given was that the hospitals and the healthcare system in the state could be overwhelmed by a spike in COVID-19 cases. The stated goal of the stay-at-home order was to flatten the curve and avoid that spike.
On April 30, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Dr. Mandy Cohen said, “We have flattened the curve.”
It would appear that with the curve flattened that the state would be ready to start reopening.
But before the stay-at-home order was set to expire on April 29, Cooper said that trends, testing and tracing would have to meet certain metrics before the state could begin reopening for business. Flattening the curve was no longer enough to begin reopening the state and he extended the stay-at-home order to May 8.
This latest revelation from Cooper that people have to “feel safe” in order to begin the process of reopening the state is not based on science, facts or metrics. It is a completely subjective standard. Some people don’t “feel safe” with the stay-at-home order in place and certainly won’t feel safe after the stay-at-home order is lifted.
Is the entire state going to be mandated to stay at home because some North Carolinians don’t feel safe?
Who is going to determine that enough North Carolinians “feel safe” to begin lifting the restrictions that have crippled the economy and put hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians out of work?
“Cooper said that in order to start reopening the state’s economy, ‘We need working North Carolinians to trust that they will feel safe as we move forward.’” I don’t want to FEEL safe I want to BE safe. It irritates me when people state that they like “feeling safe” because words are important. Am I really safe? Do you have facts to back that up? Stop being “feely” and give us factual information.
The only way I would know and feel that I’m safe within my immediate community and state and to be paticipatory in rebuilding North Carolina; would be, if every North Carolinian was tested, starting with our essential workers. Afterwards, Rural Communities and people who are disportinately dying due to COVID-19. Finally, everyone else. Then, people would have to be contained, isolated and vetted, before they could effectively and affectively return to participate in a society and not cripple it. Moreover, everyone in AMERICA needs to be tested and an effective vaccine needs to discovered and administered to everyone.
For people who want to stay at home, stay at home, but these businesses need to reopen before they go bankrupt. Of course if you are staying at home and going to the big box stores or to Food Lion, Lowes Hardware, you are around more people than you would be at a small business. Also wear a mask. We just need to use our common sense.
Absolutely agree with you Shirley. If people don’t feel “safe” or are “afraid” there is nothing that will stop them from staying sheltered in their homes as long as they want. My Constitutional Rights are being trampled by those that want the “safety” put before the good of our businesses. I would just bet these people have been out to Harris Teeter,Food Lion, Lowes Hardware etc and maybe wore a mask or maybe not. So wear a mask if you want but don’t subject me to your ideas. Or maybe they want us to become like Venezuela and no toilet paper in the stores will not be the worry…no FOOD and NO People working will happen.
Exactly…
Especially before I start getting my little children out!
Bc if they get it, I get it & other way around & I don’t have anyone that would come help us if lm sick & trying to take care of sick children too!
Don’t send us out to soon & have to start all over again.
Be sure before we are sentback out, we are into it this far already. I rather stay home a few more weeks & know, than to get out now & so many people get it out hospitals are overwhelmed & have to stay home for months!
You can stay home. A reopen order wouldn’t be mandatory unlike the close order. Don’t feel safe stay at home. It’s actually pretty simple
Yep I agree.
Facts? You sound like you want some absolute facts. If that’s what you want you might as well hunker down in a old fallout shelter for the rest of your life. If you want to know that if you catch COVID-19 there’s anywhere between a 1 to 5% chance you going to die. There’s even a small chance you will never know you have it. You can even find odds of other things happening, like chances of dying, if you get the vaccine shot that will be developed.
Deborah J. Grayson I think we all want to be safe but even before Covid-19 hit us, we weren’t safe. Diseases still existed, accidents occurred and folks still got sick and died. To actually be safe would be great but with this virus, in our world and state today, I will accept feeling safe. I believe Governor Cooper has put into place a reasonable plan in reopening our state.
You can absolutely stay home however there are some of us that need to get back to work Do you have no respect for the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
EXACTLY !
Thank you Owen. I’m with you.
Governor Cooper,
I think you are doing the right thing by not opening the state until you find out more, Why do people want it open back so bad when we don’t know if out kids are going to go to work and meet up with somebody carrying the sickness, People are not listening and going out anyway that’s the ones that are pushing for the state to be reopen, let them go out and the ones that don’t want to get sick don’t make us go back out and be scared to death that we are going to take something home to our families.I have health problems and I’m one of the ones that had a lot immune system already and I don’t want to get sick with something else that could be worse than what is going on now. Stay Strong and don’t listen to the people that don’t know what they are talking about just because they want to go out and not worry about it, look at the number in Mecklenburg and it had not stopped going up so opening the state back up would cause that in many more counties. Thank You for fighting for what is right for us North Carolinians. We thank you for the Job you are doing and I am praying for you because you have allot on you but please
KEEP NC SHUT DOWN
You’re a sheep and the Governor has no right to shut down the state. If you’re afraid stay home. This is not a pandemic. I work in a large hospital system and we are empty! Yes empty! And, we are down $180 million because of canceling all elective surgeries to make room for the 500 Plus Covid patients we were supposed to have right now. Lol, we have 8 at the present time. And!!, lockdowns have no effect on infection rates – look at Sweden – they did not lockdown their country and their numbers are no worse than ours or Denmark. And!!!, we will most likely have an increase in flu outbreaks, including Covid, because all the sheep are wearing masks and staying home which is going to make their immune systems weak. There’s a 99% recovery rate folks! This is the biggest hoax that has been placed upon the world. Wake the hell up you freekin sheep!
Please stop playing Russian roulette with lives. So much stuff about this virus what fo we believe because what do we know for sure. This is scary as hell. Roy cooper right as far as I’m concerned. People’s lives matter everyone’s. The correct time to go back to our lives as we use to know it has to b times correctly no guessing.
I feel safe at home..
I’d rather be alive and broke rather
than spend a day at the salon, ect. and dead in a casket a few days after..!!!
Something to think about.
And that is your choice please stay home if you don’t feel safe, but don’t mandate that the rest of us do as you wish
It is clear that the quarantine is over. Now people are just vacationing while essential workers continue to work for their money and keeping the country running. If you can’t pay people to stay home and this virus doesn’t keep people at home then the Governor’s words are nothing more than that! Just like the promise of a raise for us school employees. Nothing more than words spoken. Meanwhile I work all day on a computer trying to educate special needs children and then go work my second job out in the public so I can take care of my family! I am working 70 hours a week and my taxes are paying for people to stay home and be safe so do just that! I take care of your children and I keep vehicles (ambulances, 18 wheelers and essential workers) on the road so people can get their essentials. As I was leaving one of my delivery stops this afternoon I saw a car show of about 30 cars going on in the Twin Peaks parking lot in Cabarrus County. I also saw car loads of people all over the road enjoying the beautiful day that essential workers are footing the bill for. STAY HOME! I want to do more than feel safe…I want to be safe!
Praying for You and I totally agree, I don’t want me and my family to feel safe we want to be safe that is exactly right. Just reading your post you are a hard working but sensible person
I’m not responsible for how others feel. If they don’t feel safe, stay home. Keeping everyone locked down bc snowflakes don’t feel safe is unfair and unconstitutional.
I’m 76 years old and still work,but right now of course out of work but what happens when I have to go back,am I safe of not getting covid19 I’m afraid but at the same time I’ll be forced to enter the work force..this isnt fair.
This Stalin wannabe just wants to destroy North Carolina and hes done a great job of doing so.
I swear those who still would vote for this tryant trash have to be mentally ill.
He shouldnt be in office after November, and frankly should stepdown immediatly for someone with a brain.
Never vote democrat if you value your freedom!
No more tyranny! Reopen our state!
I’m not a lawyer but I would think that all of the Governors that mandated unconditional orders should be arrested for treason right about now. This is a deep state operation folks and I’m not sure if Trump is in on it or not. Trump is in charge of Operation Warp Speed – this is to get a vaccine out for Covid by this January. Vaccines are poison folks and this new Covid vaccine will be using mRNA to make your cells produce the antigen (foreign body – Covid protein) and at the same time your immune system will be producing antibodies against it. This is a setup for an autoimmune disease. These people are nuts!! Satan has always wanted to change our DNA – since Genesis 6. But, millions of sheep will run for the vaccine when it comes out – possibly with Billy Gates quantum dot tattoo technology- if they can pull that off. And where’s all the pastors? Yeah, for most part there’re silent. Probably because they are FEMA pastors. These pastors will probably have little clinics at their churches with a friendly nurse to administer the Covid vaccine. Lol!!!! Folks, the Lord said that my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Time is running out. Stop watching TV and wake the heck up!
I will feel safe once Pooper Cooper is out of office!! He has done nothing but ruin North Carolina. There are countless small businesses that will never reopen because of his negaletory leadership during this supposed “deadly” virus. Wake up people! It’s already been proven repeatedly that the flu is deadlier. This virus is just a way to take away our rights, control us and tell us how to live, where to shop, when, etc. Welcome to the democrat leadership way of living!
It’s been shown repeatedly that Pooper has overstepped his authority in making rules on us. He went against the decisions of our state leaders. He has overstepped his bounds over and over since becoming governor. He doesn’t care about you or the state of NC. It’s all about power for him. Ask why the healthcare system only gets $25 million for testing for a “deadly” virus out of a CORONAVIRUS Relief Bill. Ask why hospitals and health care only gets $25 million for masks, gloves, ventilators, etc for a supposedly “deadly” virus from that same relief bill but the NC DOT gets a whopping $300 million!! That’s not about a virus! Pooper is using the virus to give the money where it benefits him! Small businesses only get $60 million!! They should be getting that $300 million, not DOT! But Pooper doesn’t care about saving our businesses or our people!
Pooper needs to go. And for y’all who want the state to stay closed, keep being fooled. Stay home by all means! But don’t expect the rest of us to be forced to do the same! This is a free country. Remember that! Don’t let them take that away from us. I choose to get out. I choose to not wear a mask. If you don’t want to go out, don’t. That’s your choice. But don’t force it on the rest of us. This virus is just a convenient means to an end for the democrats to take away our rights. If you let that happen, don’t cry about it later!
I dont feel.safe. I have tried staying home. We have had to go to Lowes, for specific items. I waited in truck while my husband ran in and got it. And between buying food, dog food, pony food, duck food, cat food and chicken food I have gone no where. Yet I still dont feel safe. I see so many people out like it’s a permanent vacation, not wearing mask or gloves. Old people, kids and babies. I think the biggest problem is that numbers in some counties are being with held and people think they are safe. Many people have quit watching the numbers all together.
People think it’s a joke, they think what happened in New York wont happen here.
My husband is essential works with 750 plus people in a confined area that has had 1 person die of covid 19 and 5 others infected. He nor no one where he works has been tested. It’s a wait game.
People dont understand you can walk around not knowing your sick and infect. You can walk around for days infecting everyone around you.
I.guess I wont feel safe until I can see less than 10 in North Carolina a day being infected. But 360 to 500 people daily being tested as positive is too much
Sorry that’s not flattening any curve
On average there are 6000 hospital beds open and waiting. That is a flattening the curve
As long as the cases keep rising and as long as the death count keep rising I dont see how any competent individual would feel like the normal working individual would feel safe going back to work. There are alot of businesses that are claiming that they are practicing social distancing however they are truly not. It seems to me the only things that these businesses are concerned about is their bottom line, no matter how many lives are affected.
I do not feel safe for me and my family. Out of state tourist fill western NC and it will get worse i feel many will get sick and possibly die. Mr.Governor follow the lead same as our children no school reat of the year…
I’m recovering from aspiration pneumonia and septic shock…I just got out of the hospital..I do not feel safe with reopening the state..the is the dumbest idea our leaders could do..I’m very high risk if I get this Covid-19 I will die no doubt about it..my doctor made it very clear…our leaders need to stop trying to rush reopening our state and put the health of the people 1st
Like i said business owners are putting people in danger they got a stimulus a business loan and unemployment still cant sit if The salon had a person with covid 19 come in what will you do ?
You will be accountable for the outbreak and can you afford to be shutdown. .Just wait
This is communism scare statics. The death rate is what.. .01% ?? And we shut the country down for that.. Can’t you see we have bigger problems than corona virus? They are taking out freedoms and telling us what we can cannot do.. For less than this there have been great civil wars.
Is Cooper going to let the people in north Carolina have there freedom back the 8th of May,2020? We are tired of staying home and feel like caged animals. We want our freedom back may 8th,2020 please and thank you!
I think Governor Cooper and Dr. Cohen are doing the right thing by keeping North Carolina locked down still. They are listening to scientists and health care professionals. When other opened states start to see a surge up in their numbers with people getting sick again and dying, we will realize that we are doing the safest thing. Health and life comes before anything else.
Stop with the nonsense…Keep your ???? Home because some of you are the very one who refuse to use a mask….practice social distances but yet u want the state to open up For What??? I suppose you are just looking to Die….Be for Real…I would not want to be around anyone who do not take this to heart……Please get with it or it will get with you. Think?
You have a choice to not be around anyone else. Stay home, you’ll be safe there. The test if us can go back to work
He also said that he was going to use the metrics outlined by the White House to make a decision and to relax those standards by only requiring two to be met. Did you watch the press conference? Maybe you should before you make a journalistic decision to stir the pot and create more discord.
You’re right words are important and the key word is ” working” North Carolinians which means ” Essential” for the govt to keep moving forward with a new Bolshivik revolution by segregating essential people with non essentials. Out of the non essential group there are those like myself going on 8 weeks with no unemployment but a Russian co worker at the very same job who’s in a higher income bracket got hers in 6 days after filing.
Well here is the thing as someone who works in the medical field keeping people at home is making their immune systems weaker…so they will catch it easier and that’s what people don’t understand if there is spike after the stay home order is lifted is because you have kept all these people home and they are not able to fight it off…and people can say whatever but that’s the truth….there never should have been a stay at home order!!!
As another worker in the medical field, it is important to include all of the patients that were harmed or die due to denying “elective” procedures or that have urgent medical needs were frightened away from medical centers by the hysteria. If you problem is not Corona, just die is what this tunnel vision will cause.
Another attributing as many deaths as posible to the virus, and pressuring doctors to do so.. If a DOA corpse arrived in an emergecy room with a bullet in the brain, they would be swabbed for corona and, if it was present, designated as the cause of death.
I respect the Governor’s office, but really he is acting like China hiding or distorting facts. Open up NC and if people do not feel safe they can stay at home.
I do not know what is more horrifying: using “feels” as a standard or people with a clear mental disorder who image that can be or ever were “safe”, even at home. This virus is proving to be mostly harmless as the testing of the asyptomatic comes in and NC’s curve was always flat. The result from nations and states that did not indulge their inner facist already shows that lockdown have no benefit. The genuinely ill need a productive community to provide the materials they need to recover. Not narcasistic, shamelessly lazy cowards, most of who have the means idle for an indefinitely extended period of time. You people can ruin your own lives without dragging whole state down with you.
I strongly agree with the knowing I’m safe instead of feeling safe so many people don’t care about others safety and still living life like nothing is wrong,but I do fear that opening businesses earlier than Cooper wants us to is going to be a disaster for people with health problems there’s a reason Cooper is our governor,he is there to protect his people of N.C. There is help for businesses and people but there are to many scared and impatient people.The way I see it God is with us and everything and everyone has a purpose and he can’t help you if you can’t get off your seat and help yourself and others ,so please people save us all and listen and pray, Gods not dead!! He’s here in all our hearts and everything around us.
Time to open up. People are already starting to get out and about. Businesses need to open. Those who want to shelter in place are free to do so. Those who are ready to move should be allowed to.
If you don’t feel safe (you know like being shot at, robbed, harassed, or catching a germ) stay home! I feel safe. I am not staying home any more than I used to. We eat in restaurant parking lots (tail gating style!). We go to the stores that are open. I support our businesses. Americans are being tested on how much government control we will permit. Obviously there are a bunch of kool-aid drinking sheep in NC, and thankfully for that, I feel very safe where ever I go! Refuse to obey Cooper and move on! Sweden has it right. Reopen NC or NC will never recover. The economy drives the state. If you would rather stay home and be penniless, that’s your right. With no income, and eventually no home and no vehicle, you will feel even safer I’m sure!
Sure hope this virus knows how to target stupid, because this tread is target rich. All of you crying for the opening of the state, crying about your rights being abused and not be able to worship etc. Yet, it is also these very same people who claim to be christian, that threaten the lives of loved ones, neighbors and the community because your poor, pitiful personal liberties are being curtailed. With examples such as displayed in this tread, there is NO sense of community in this country anymore. It is every self centered, “oh, my poor rights” person for them self and dam the rest of humanity. I hope getting your hair did, going to church services, SHOPPING for crap is worth killing yourself, loved ones and the vulnerable in this society. Also, where to do you get off disparaging people who have scrimped, saved, lived within their means and put money back for a rainy day? I know there are hard working people that can’t but that gives you no right to talk trash about those that have. Have mercy on this poor country.
Why does Gov. Cooper NOT care what we think? He does not have voice mail or anyone answering his telephone, so how would he know what we want, open or not. Seems to me an elected official should be available to answer to the people.
Safe? Safe is more than not sick. Safe is more than being virus free. Safe is when you have food for meals. Safe is having money to pay your bills. Safe is having a job to earn a living. Safe is having a home not in danger of foreclosure. Safe is not having to worry about the utility bills being paid. Safe is having self-respect and not depending upon the state for your existence. Safe is having transportation. Safe is being able to take your family to places outside of the front yard. Safe is your children being able to go to school. Safe is not having to search stores for essentials. Safe is not having to forage for toilet paper. Safe is not worrying about whether the government will end your job or business tomorrow.
Every 3 or 4 minutes on television, there is a commercial with celebrities telling us “Stay home, Stay safe”. Their goal is for you to watch television until you are sufficiently brainwashed. Don’t buy into it.
We are in the midst of the greatest political power grab in American history. Politicians, especially Cooper, don’t care if you are “safe”.
Oh, I am scared. I want to feel safe for the rest of my life. Can I have my 3 hots and a cot, my color TV and smartphone, my laptop and desktop. then I will stay at home and I will be safe. Big Brother will take care of me, and someone else will pay for it. Oh, thank you, Roy.
I won’t feel safe until Gov. Pretend Cooper is voted out in November. He is playing the Democrat game plan. If folks want to stay home and hide under the bed they can certainly do that.
It is clear that a lot of folks don’t understand how to use the “numbers”. POSITIVE means those tests that show someone either carries the virus or is ill to some degree from it. The real number to look at is HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS for it, especially ICU cases. And actual deaths from it (and not nursing home deaths). Our hospitals are not any where near overloaded even with non-ICU cases.
We should have a lot more positives if more people were tested. Are mild symptom folks being denied a test because of money? More tests give a better look at real percentages of all metrics.
According to the NC Dept of Health, as of today, 452 people have died with coronavirus. It does not say that the virus was the actual cause of death, as virtually everyone that passed had the virus but not necessarily die from that alone.
To put this in perspective, according to the CDC website, in North Carolina 2,064 people died from influenza in 2018 (last year on record).
You do the math. I think both parties are trying to be loving and caring. Rather it be downtown, in Raleigh, or in Washington; it is politically motivated. We are being played for political advantage.