North Carolina County to Defy Governor’s Stay-at-Home Orders, Reopen Businesses

Officials in North Carolina’s Gaston County announced on Wednesday their intention to sign an order allowing businesses in the county to reopen, effective April 29 at 5:00 p.m., despite Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) extended stay-at-home orders.

Commission Chairman Tracy Philbeck made the announcement Wednesday morning, stating that county leaders are “letting our folks know we support them going back to work.”

“We’re going to put our people to work and we’re going to do it in a health-minded way,” Philbeck said.

“We have learned that social distancing works. We’ve learned that with strict sanitation, strict hygiene, it works,” he continued, adding that county leaders believe Gaston County “can do both,” noting that the state’s one size fits all approach does not make sense, particularly for his county.

Per the Charlotte Observer:

The order says vulnerable people should continue to stay home. Other people should keep their distance from others, it says, and avoid gatherings of 10 or more where social distancing isn’t practical. Employers should continue to encourage telework.

Schools and youth activities that are now closed should stay closed, the order says, and bars remain closed. But the order allows theaters, restaurants, churches, sporting venues and gyms to operate with social distancing and elective surgeries to resume.

“If you don’t wanna open your business, you don’t have to,” Philbeck said. “We can protect the health of our citizens while at the same time putting our citizens back at work”:

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