NC lawmakers are thinking about reopening restaurants. When is that a good idea?

NC Senate Leader Phil Berger has been soliciting ideas recently from lawmakers on how to help rescue the state’s economy from the damage the coronavirus is inflicting. Among the suggestions: Allow some easing of Gov. Roy Cooper’s order this month that closed dining areas in North Carolina restaurants. That easing would theoretically be for those restaurants where workers and diners can practice safe social distancing - perhaps those that have the capacity for outdoor seating, a Berger spokesman told the Editorial Board.

To be clear: It’s only a concept at this point. But the willingness to publicly float a reopening of restaurants signals that lawmakers may be thinking about revisiting our state’s coronavirus restrictions sooner than later. It also illustrates a looming tension here and across the country between being attentive to public health and getting businesses back on their feet.

The desire for the latter is understandable. Bottom lines - both business and personal - are cratering. Lawmakers are watching local economies wither, and the jarring spike of N.C. unemployment claims is a clear indication that a deep financial crisis could rock the state for years.

The prospect of economic calamity has caused some leaders to act irresponsibly - President Trump’s early all-is-well stance on the virus cost the country both time and lives - and it’s produced some downright dumb remarks such as Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggesting that older folks would sacrifice their lives to COVID-19 to get the economy back on track. Thankfully, Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina have largely stood behind the governor as he’s moved to preemptively slow the coronavirus surge here.

Still, everyone would like everyone to get back to work, and while reopening restaurants or other businesses anytime in the next month should be out of the question, the discussion of when and how that might be done safely is legitimate.

What we do know is that public health experts believe stay-at-home orders and business closures work. They slow the spread of the virus and can flatten the curve of infections so hospitals are not overwhelmed. We also know that while many North Carolinians are obeying the governor’s orders, there’s plenty of evidence that others will push to the limits of restrictions and beyond. Loosening those restrictions would only encourage that behavior and risk more people’s health.

This also is true: The economic premise behind getting people back to work quickly is shaky. An Initiative on Global Markets survey last week asked a panel of leading economists if “abandoning severe lockdowns at a time when the likelihood of a resurgence in infections remains high” would lead to greater economic damage than keeping the restrictions in place. Not one economist disagreed. Quite simply - if you abandon public health restrictions for the sake of the economy, you risk doing greater economic damage by prolonging the public health crisis.

For now and the near future, that calculation should be simple. As long as new coronavirus infections continue to spike, North Carolina should resist any temptation to pull back on stay at home and business restrictions. When the infection rate begins to meaningfully decline, lawmakers and leaders should discuss the possibility of easing guidelines on low-risk businesses, but those decisions should always err on the side of public health and be backed by data, not guesses. To that end, we continue to encourage North Carolina to launch broad random testing for COVID-19 so that officials can better understand how fast and far the virus is spreading - and so that leaders can make informed, responsible decisions when that spread eventually slows.

This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 1:07 PM.