Gyms, health clubs and theaters to close as Mecklenburg coronavirus cases grow
Mecklenburg County’s public health director has tightened her ban on mass gatherings, ordering gyms, health clubs and theaters to close as the number of coronavirus cases inches up.
“The main focus here is to protect our community and to continue to reduce the amount of people who are exposed to this virus,” health director Gibbie Harris told county commissioners Tuesday night.
The owner of three major Charlotte-area shopping centers, SouthPark mall, Concord Mills and Charlotte Premium Outlets, said they would voluntarily close through March 29.
Fourteen cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the county since last Thursday, health officials reported Wednesday morning. That number has doubled since Monday.
The ban Harris initially signed Monday, prohibiting gatherings of 50 or more people until April 12, does not include Charlotte Douglas International Airport, bus or light rail stops, residential buildings, hotels, shelters, grocery stores and shopping malls.
More changes to her recommendations are likely in the coming days, she told commissioners.
North Carolina’s total reported cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new strain of coronavirus, rose to at least 81, the (Raleigh) News & Observer reported.
Union and Gaston counties both announced their first reported cases, and Iredell its second, on Wednesday. Lincoln and Cabarrus counties have each reported one case.
Mecklenburg continues to test for the virus, but other healthcare providers are working to make sure sick patients are tested.
Charlotte’s Tryon Medical Partners opened a drive-thru testing clinic on Tuesday and saw nearly 50 patients that day. Charlotte’s biggest hospital systems, Atrium Health and Novant Health, are both operating testing clinics as well.
Shelter in place coming?
Mecklenburg County could soon be under a shelter-in-place order — similar to San Francisco — as cases continue to rise, Harris told commissioners. Under such orders, non-essential travel is banned and people are told to work from home or stop working unless they provide an “essential service.”
“We may be moving in that direction more quickly than we like,” Harris said.
In six counties around San Francisco, businesses other than grocery stores, pharmacies, delivery-only restaurants and hardware stores had to send workers home Tuesday. Exceptions included health care workers, emergency responders and utility providers such as electricians, plumbers and sanitation workers.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday shot down Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal for a similar policy in New York City.
“I’m from Queens and if you tell me to shelter-in-place I’ll just go stay with my sister in Westchester (County) and have a good time,” he said, NBC News reported.
N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper ordered all restaurants and bars to close at 5 p.m. Tuesday, except for takeout and delivery orders. The latest county order is an escalation in restrictions after Cooper declared a state of emergency last week.
Small business owners and their employees are already sweating the impact of such orders.
The 147,000 people who work in the hospitality and leisure industry, including restaurants and hotels, comprise more than 11% of the region’s total employment, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority says.
“This is going to significantly impact all of the retail, all of our restaurants,” said Janet LaBar, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. “And I think their ability to withstand this will be difficult.”
Food Lion joined other grocery chains in limiting sales of soap, hand sanitizers, rubbing alcohol, bath tissue and household cleaners. Experts warned that there’s also no need to stock up on cash, although consumers are pulling out money at higher than normal rates.
Major shopping centers closing
SouthPark Mall, Concord Mills and Charlotte Premium Outlets will all close from 7 p.m. Wednesday through March 29, owner Simon Property Group said Wednesday.
Two other local malls, Northlake in Charlotte and Carolina Place in Pineville, announced shorter hours Monday to allow more time for deep cleanings.
Belk department stores, based in Charlotte, announced all of its stores would be closed at the end of business Tuesday through the end of the month because of the coronavirus. Customers can continue to shop online and through the store’s app, the message states.
Other large retailers, like Macy’s, Apple stores, Anthropologie, REI, Madewell, JCrew and Nike, had already announced store closings.
Movie theaters go dark
Ayrsley Grand Cinemas announced on Facebook at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that it would temporarily close immediately, after showing its first matinees of the day and belatedly learning of the county’s order.
Other Charlotte-area theaters rolled their last showings Tuesday night.
About 929 people work in the movie theater industry in the Charlotte region, according to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. They likely work part-time jobs, as the average wages are about $12,852 a year.
“It’s an industry that runs on fairly low margins and so can be greatly affected by a downturn,” said Chuck McShane, vice president of economic research for the alliance.
Several theaters had made the decision on their own to close Wednesday, even before Harris ordered them to do so.
Southeast Cinemas, with two locations in Concord and Albemarle, and Cinemark, with two locations in Charlotte and Matthews, planned to temporarily close all theaters starting Wednesday.
Stone Theaters, based in Charlotte with six locations in the Carolinas, announced it, too, would close all locations.
Following Cooper’s order Tuesday that restaurants and bars close their dining rooms, Our Town Cinemas in Davidson posted online that it was temporarily closing.
Studio Movie Grill, based in Texas, also announced Tuesday it has temporarily closed several locations, including the Charlotte Prosperity Village location that opened in December.
Studio Movie Grill’s closure instead followed other theater chains — Regal, with eight Charlotte-area locations, and AMC, with five area locations — in announcing nationwide closings that started Tuesday until further notice.
AMC is offering AMC Theaters On Demand, according to its website.
The Gem Theatre in Kannapolis also announced on its website the theater had suspended operations at noon Tuesday until further notice.
“We will continue to monitor local, state and federal guidelines to determine when we are able to safely resume providing a healthy and entertaining escape from the very trying times we are all experiencing,” the announcement states.
NCG Cinema in Monroe closed at 3 p.m. Monday, according to its website.
Jail inmates being released
Mecklenburg County’s criminal justice system has begun quietly reducing the inmate population at its uptown jail.
Jails and prisons are seen as particularly high-risk targets of COVID-19, which has claimed thousands of lives worldwide and has now cropped up in all 50 states.
As of Tuesday, about four dozen of the Mecklenburg jail’s 1,600 occupants had been scheduled for release, as part of an ongoing case-by-case analysis by judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys of who needs to be in custody during the emerging pandemic and who does not.
More releases are expected in the coming days.
Coronavirus relief fund
Mecklenburg County commissioners voted Tuesday night to give $1.3 million to the COVID-19 Response Fund.
That fund, which will be overseen by the Foundation for the Carolinas and the United Way of Central Carolinas, was announced Monday by LendingTree CEO Doug Lebda.
LendingTree, Charlotte city council, Truist and Howard R. Levine Foundation have each pledged $1 million to the fund.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 9:30 AM.
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