The Orange County government amended its state of emergency on Wednesday and extended it to next March, which could mark one full year of the community being under the order created to combat COVID-19.

A release from the county government said the change, made in consolation with Orange County Health Director Quintana Stewart, was made based on the latest data regarding the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on county residents. The state of emergency is now slated to last through March 31, 2020.

Orange County and its three town governments within all declared states of emergency on March 13 to prepare for COVID-19. Since then, the county also passed a stay at home order, which urged community members to remain at residences to mitigate the coronavirus’ spread, and other amendments to maintain the state of emergency. While Orange County’s orders were stricter than North Carolina’s COVID-19 public health guidelines for months, the local government amended the order in September to match Governor Roy Cooper’s executive orders.

While operating under a state of emergency, local government meetings are able to be held virtually, a resource several elected officials in Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough  said was an important factor when previously amending the order.

As of Wednesday, 4,514 Orange County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March, with 62 dying from complications caused by the coronavirus. North Carolina recorded 5,273 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

The signed declaration approving the state of emergency amendment can be found on the Orange County government’s website.

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