New COVID directive urges ‘full virtual’ activity in schools, businesses in Mecklenburg
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the health department on the directive not amounting to a “mandate.”
Mecklenburg County’s health director issued a sweeping directive Tuesday asking businesses, schools and individuals to revert to “full virtual” operations wherever in-person activity is not required.
“As the number of COVID-19 cases in Mecklenburg County continue to grow at an exponential rate — from an average of 100 cases per day in September, to an average of 900 cases per day in mid-January — Public Health is issuing a specific directive for the people of Mecklenburg County for the next three weeks. The Directive is effective immediately and will remain in effect for the next three weeks, until February 2, 2021,” officials wrote in a statement.
Earlier Tuesday, the Charlotte Observer reported a post-Christmas surge has seen the caseload worsen in Mecklenburg, and Health Director Gibbie Harris says hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients have increased 543% since September.
“Our recommendation is that it doesn’t make sense to bring kids back to schools,” Harris said during a county commissioners meeting Tuesday, where the directive was announced.
Hours later, a health department representative issued a public statement to the Observer and other news organizations clarifying that Harris’ directive “does not carry the weight of an executive order or a mandate.”
North Carolina is currently under a modified stay-at-home order. Unlike previous emergency orders and local stay-at-home orders by Mecklenburg elected officials, Harris’ directive was not signed off on by leaders of governments in cities and towns in the county.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said it will continue to issue citations to people who violate coronavirus restrictions only as a “last-measure.”
“The CMPD will continue to work to reach voluntary cooperation with each member of the community through education and conversations,” spokesman Thomas Hildebrand said in a statement to the Observer. “This has been the CMPD’s approach for consistent enforcement of all related orders and directives, and it will remain so until they are rescinded. It’s encouraging to note that CMPD continues to receive a tremendous level of cooperation from the community, and we’re very grateful for the unified efforts during this time.”
A statewide curfew is in effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., with some essential activities allowed.
It’s unclear whether the directive will lead Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to scrap its plan of bringing all grade levels back next week for limited in-person instruction. Earlier this week, Harris had said she’d support some classroom activity at CMS and that she had been in consultation with the district on its preparedness.
“We believe the schools are in reasonable shape to handle the number of children they were seeing in December,” Harris had said during a Monday news conference. In December, high school students were not eligible to return to classrooms. A plan in place for Jan. 19 calls for CMS high school students to return to in-person learning on a rotational basis. The school board meets Tuesday night and officials said members anticipate holding an emergency board meeting on Thursday.
The day before her directive, Harris said the CMS board would make the ultimate call on how to reopen schools.
“The decision obviously is up to the school board,” she said Monday. “We also want them to be reasonable based on what they can handle right now ... We will be supportive of the schools as they move forward.”
The new directive from the health director stipulates that residents should:
▪ Only leave their home for essential activities, like work or buying food.
▪ Use “full virtual options” for work, school and other activities where possible.
▪ Avoid leaving home at all if they are over 65 or at a high risk of developing a serious illness.
▪ Use alternative pick-up or delivery services for food and retail purchases.
▪ Avoid interacting with people not in their household.
▪ Avoid participating in recreational activities that would put residents in contact with others.
▪ Avoid non-essential travel.
▪ Remain at home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
▪ Cooperate with contact tracers and public health workers.
In addition, residents are asked to continue wearing masks and practice social distancing and washing their hands. It’s also recommended that indoor public spaces where people are unmasked or gather in large crowds be avoided.
Harris’ directive is similar to the statewide directive issued last week by Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
“The orders come as all but four counties are considered red or orange under North Carolina’s coronavirus alert system, including 84 with critical spread. Last month, 65 were classified as having critical levels of community spread,” the News & Observer reported Jan. 6.
Mecklenburg’s new directive largely echoes those guidelines for “red zone” counties, which urge residents to only leave home for essential activities and avoid people outside their household. Mecklenburg and all other counties in the Charlotte region — Union, Gaston, Cabarrus, Iredell, Rowan, Cleveland, Lincoln and Stanly — are “red,” indicating the most severe spread of COVID-19.
Mecklenburg has logged 72,968 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, N.C. DHHS reported Tuesday morning. Local officials say 652 residents have died of coronavirus-related complications.
“If we as a community can stick to these recommendations for the next 3 weeks, we believe it will help us get our numbers back under control,” Harris told commissioners.
Alison Kuznitz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 5:22 PM.
