Orange County elected officials will be updating the county’s stay at home order on Thursday to match North Carolina’s move into Phase 3 of reopening.

As the state continues to recover and adapt to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, county governments have sometimes deviated from Governor Roy Cooper’s executive orders implementing methods to try mitigating the spread of the virus. Orange County is one of those, having kept smaller gathering sizes when the state moved to Phase 2.5 and enacting an earlier curfew on alcohol sales in July.

According to Orange County Commissioner Penny Rich, however, the county will be updating its stay at home order to match those elements of the state’s as North Carolina prepares for Phase 3. She said the limits on gathering sizes, bar operations, restaurant seating and the order’s expiration date will all now match the governor’s.

“We would prefer that bars and venues did not open so we could open up our schools,” said Rich. “That’s really our priority, is to get kids back into schools. But, to stay on level with the governor and not to confuse anyone, we are going to go with his order.”

Rich said county health officials and leaders will closely monitor Orange County’s coronavirus testing data to see if the changes negatively affect its trends. With an average percent positive rate of testing less than 2 percent, the commissioner indicated maintaining public health will be the priority over staying aligned with North Carolina’s order.

“This is just a warning that if those parties are not contained and people aren’t vigilant and play by the rules,” said Rich, “the mayors and I can easily pull those gathering sizes back. That is not a problem if it is being abused and it is being abused by more than one group of people. It is absolute what we will do.”

Cooper announced on Wednesday smaller outdoor venues, movie theaters, conference centers, outdoor amusement parks and bars with outdoor seating can reopen at 30 percent capacity or 100 people, lifting measures on some of the places where officials were most concerned about causing spread of COVID-19. The news came a week after the governor’s announcement of larger venues, with 10,000 seats or more, being granted the ability to hold 7 percent occupancy.

Orange County enacted its stay at home order on March 27. Its state of emergency order is slated to last until the end of October, with the stay at home order now slated to last until at least October 23.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

Related Stories
‹
Orange County to Continue With Limited Gatherings, Staying Stricter Than State Guidelines
Orange County will not be expanding its gathering size limits to match new North Carolina guidelines amid the transition to Phase 2.5 of reopening. As the county is experiencing more than ten percent of positive test results across recent weeks, elected officials will opt to not match the sizes of 25 people indoors and 50 […]
Orange County Commissioner Explains How to Receive, Submit Absentee Ballots for Nov. Election
With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, voter safety during the upcoming election in November is an important issue. As many people plan to avoid large crowds, many are looking to vote from home using absentee ballots. The absentee voting method is allowed for anyone who either cannot or do not wish to go to their polling […]
Orange County Updates Mask Requirement to Mirror State's Order
Note: This story has been updated to reflect Orange County’s changes to its mask requirement that adopt the many of same regulations as issued by the latest executive order from the state. The Orange County government updated its existing mask requirement to align with the statewide requirement before it went into effect on Friday. Governor […]
Orange County to Follow NC's Phase 1 Guidelines, Ending County Stay-Home Order
Orange County will end its stay at home order on Friday, May 8, to allow residents to fully comply with state guidance as it enters Phase 1 of gradual reopening. The county shared a release on Wednesday acknowledging it will let the county order expire, but reminding residents they still fall under the statewide stay […]
Orange County Extends Stay at Home Order to Coincide with North Carolina's
Orange County extended its county-wide stay at home order past its initial April 30 expiration date. County officials, in cooperation with the mayors of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough, decided to extend the order until May 8, according to a release from Orange County. The new length of the order coincides with the extension of […]
Hillsborough Police Charge Resident for Violating Stay at Home Order After Weekend Block Party
Hillsborough Police recently charged a resident for violating North Carolina’s stay at home order issued in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The Town of Hillsborough shared a release on Monday saying the department is attempting to serve 32 year-old Tocee Mitchell of 585 Riddle Avenue for his involvement in a block party Sunday […]
Mental Health, Infant Mortality and Environmental Racism: Takeaways From Orange County's Health Assessment Data
Every four years, the Orange County Health Department embarks on an intensive effort to gather wide-ranging, local health information in its Community Health Assessment, which happened in 2023. One month ago, the health department shared those results and data with residents. The health department published its public copies of the 2023 assessment after surveys, focus […]
Orange County Ends COVID-19 Testing Services After Nearly 3 Years
After nearly three years of offering PCR tests for COVID-19, the Orange County Health Department has officially halted its testing services.
OWASA to Resume Standard Collection Practices on June 1
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority will resume its standard collection practices beginning June 1, the agency announced in a release Monday afternoon. The move aligns with Orange County ending its state of emergency order for the COVID-19 pandemic, with the declaration expiring on Sunday. OWASA had maintained a moratorium on service disconnections and collection […]
Orange County Sets Expiration Date for COVID-19 State of Emergency
After being in place since March 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of emergency order laying out Orange County’s response to the coronavirus now has an end date. As part of a technical correction to reflect the latest changes to the county’s indoor mask mandate, Chair of the Orange County Board […]
›