As North Carolina sees the number of positive COVID-19 tests rise – now over 600 cases covering more than half of the state – officials continue to emphasize social distancing.
For the second day in a row at the state’s daily news briefing, state officials talked about an Executive Order that could come at any time.
Mike Sprayberry is North Carolina’s Director of Emergency Management.
"I want to stress in the event of a statewide stay-at-home order, businesses will not be required to have any credential to continue operations."
Should that stay-at-home order come, Sprayberry says business owners should themselves carefully review the Order and guidelines to determine whether they can continue operations.
At the same conference, State Health Director Betsey Tilson says 50% of hospital beds in the state are empty. But only 18% of beds in the intensive care units are open. These numbers do not include the additional surge beds officials say they expect hospitals to have.
Tilson repeats the importance of social distancing – but perhaps with a terminology change:
"…really physical distancing. We want you to stay socially connected but we want to you to stay physically apart."
