Charlotte restaurants may see nightlife resurgence Friday as COVID-19 limits ease
Nightlife in Charlotte and Davidson will take a leap toward normalcy this weekend, as North Carolina loosens more coronavirus restrictions and embarks on Phase 2.5 of reopening.
Restaurants, breweries and wineries still cannot sell alcohol beyond 11 p.m. in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Yet for the first time in over a month, those establishments in and around Charlotte — including unincorporated parts of Mecklenburg County — are allowed to have customers on site after 11 p.m. and continue serving food, officials announced Wednesday afternoon.
Restaurants can also once again seat customers in their bar areas, assuming there is “appropriate social distancing,” officials said.
“While the number of new cases is improving, we continue to see a large number of COVID-19 cases among young adults,” Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said in a statement. “The continued restrictions on alcohol sales are an effective way to limit large numbers of mostly younger residents gathering in various establishments with no face coverings or social distancing which is not conducive to slowing the spread of this virus.”
Young adults ages 20 to 39 make up nearly 45% of all cases in Mecklenburg, according to the latest county data.
Closing bar counters was a contentious aspect of Mecklenburg’s strict local order imposed in late July. Some businesses said that rule further hampered their reduced capacity limits and ability to turn a profit amid the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s partially why Mint Hill, Pineville and Matthews backed out of the county’s proclamation and instead aligned with the governor’s looser alcohol regulations, now in effect through Oct. 2. Leaders in Cornelius and Huntersville had opted out of Mecklenburg’s restrictions in July.
County Manager Dena Diorio and Harris introduced the measure as videos circulated on social media showing large crowds in nightclubs, possibly fueling more coronavirus clusters.
“Young people are not doing what we need them to do,” Diorio had told business executives at the time. “As long as that kind of behavior continues, we’re going to continue to see spread within the younger population. ”
Bars, nightclubs, movie theaters, amusement parks, gambling arcades and other entertainment venues remain closed under Gov. Roy Cooper’s latest executive order. But long-shuttered gyms and other indoor fitness facilities — including bowling alleys, yoga studios and mini golf courses — can open at reduced capacity starting at 5 p.m. Friday.
The decision came as the state’s coronavirus trends are stabilizing or declining, Cooper said during a news conference Tuesday.
“Stability isn’t victory,” Cooper said. “The forest isn’t as thick, but we’re not out of the woods.”
Local coronavirus trends, such as the positivity rate and hospitalizations, have continued to move in the right direction since late July. Health experts warn that it’s time to “double-down” on simple coronavirus precautions, such as wearing a mask and social distancing, to avoid another resurgence in infections.
“I think a lot of that depends on all of us,” Harris told county commissioners Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we do not have a vaccine at this point, and we do not have herd immunity.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 7:16 PM.