North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced his plans to extend his stay at home order for the state another three weeks, citing recent rises in coronavirus cases and trends.

With his order set to expire on Friday, Cooper said at a press briefing on Wednesday he will add an extension through at least November 13. His decision comes as state health experts recorded single-day highs for new positive COVID-19 cases and a slight increase to percentage of positive tests. North Carolina also crossed the benchmarks of more than 4,000 deaths and 250,000 total positive COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

“As this pandemic continues,” said Cooper, “I know it’s difficult and tiring to keep up our guard, especially when we’re gathered with people we love. But it’s necessary. No one wants to spread COVID-19 accidentally to friends or family, so we must keep prevention at the forefront.”

Cooper and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen said to address some rising daily case counts, the state government will begin working more directly with local governments of areas experiencing significant spread to establish stricter public health guidelines. Cohen and Secretary of the Department of Public Safety Eric Hooks recently sent a letter to county partners with guidance on how to enhance prevention efforts and improve messaging about public health guidelines.

Cooper said the state will not go forward with easing restrictions, but the installed public health measures are enough to slow the spread without re-implementing stricter guidelines.

“Seeing how and where the virus is spreading in our communities helps us know how to slow it, and it reinforces the sinister way this virus spreads at work, church and the homes of friends and families,” said the governor. “We have safety precautions in place that some people are not complying with and we believe that enforcement will help us to slow the trends.”

Additionally, NCDHHS will soon be publicly presenting more specific data breakdowns of COVID-19 cases and trends on its website, including clusters across the state and specific demographic trends within each county.

Cohen said such information will be updated weekly on the website, and shared what this latest data has revealed to the state’s health experts.

“In the past two weeks,” she described, “we’ve seen an increase in COVID-19 clusters in social gatherings. Things like informal get-togethers, family gatherings and parties. We’ve also seen an increase in cases from clusters in religious gatherings.”

The health secretary continued to encourage North Carolinians to follow the 3 Ws of wearing masks, washing hands frequently and waiting six feet apart from others. She specifically highlighted the importance of the face coverings, saying informal settings are just as high of a risk as catching the virus from strangers.

“Wearing a mask is not about how well you know someone,” Cohen said. “When you are with someone you don’t live with, wear a mask over your mouth and nose. This is scientifically proven to reduce the risk of exposing someone to COVID-19.”

North Carolina first moved into Phase 3 of its reopening on October 2.

Photo via the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

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