Last week, Orange County saw over 100 new coronavirus cases, pushing the total number to nearly 750 cases. On Friday, North Carolina recorded over 2,000 new cases in a single day for the first time since the pandemic began.
In light of this, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck spoke with Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood to hear his thoughts on pandemic politics, changing executive orders and being responsible.
As an upward trend of new cases continues in North Carolina and Orange County, local law enforcement has their hands full with more than just their usual duties.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said when it comes to enforcement and keeping the community safe throughout this pandemic, his primary concern is educating the public – especially when there is confusion regarding what state-wide or local government order is in effect.
“The interesting thing to remember when you talk about compliance with the orders, is that they’ve changed so much that I don’t know that anybody knows what order we’re operating under now,” Blackwood said. “When you look at some of the language – while I think that governor’s office has done what they’ve done with a clean heart – some of the things that have come out of the executive orders are problematic in and of themselves.”
The “Safer At Home” Executive Order, signed May 22, allowed restaurants, barbershops and salons, among other personal care businesses, to open with capacity restrictions. The order, which was due to expire on June 26 is now expected to expire July 17.
A mandatory state-wide mask requirement also went into effect on June 26, but Blackwood said that further adds to the confusion, as Orange County already implemented their own mask ordinance back on June 12.
The law states that if a county’s ordinance is stronger than the governor’s ordinance, the county’s takes precedent. The most recent executive order on the mask-wearing requirement authorizes law enforcement to cite businesses that don’t comply, but the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has not had to take any action in regards to that.
Blackwood said these constantly changing orders make it harder for the sheriff’s office to do their job. He said they have two concerns when it comes to trying to enforce these mask requirements.
“One is, it’s not sustainable to say we’re going to go out here and start arresting folks for violation of these orders,” Blackwood said. “The other thing is, when you cut something off, that’s easy to do, but cutting it back on is the problematic part about it. So, we have tried to hold on to the philosophy of education and encouragement.”
Blackwood said while the office has seen general compliance with the mask rule, there are still people who refuse to believe the CDC’s or state’s guidance.
“We try to be respectful of everyone’s feelings, but at the same time when you hear horror stories about folks that have gone into the hospital on their own two feet and within an hour have died – and how hard it is for these people to breathe – that’s real,” Blackwood said.
Blackwood said one of the reasons he thinks some people are so adamantly against following these guidelines is because the pandemic was politicized very quickly.
“It became a blue and red argument over whether or not it was even a real thing,” Blackwood said. “We’ve got the conspiracy theorists on the one side and then we’ve got the folks on the scientific side who are saying this is real and we need to respond to it. I’ll tell you that we as a community need to accept the fact that there are people getting sick and there are people dying and they didn’t pick to do that.”
Blackwood said we all have an opportunity to help stop the transmission of the virus by being responsible – and that means pushing for education and understanding. As the community prepares for students to come back in the fall, he said law enforcement is doing their best to be clear with local businesses about what their expectations are.
“Conventional wisdom says wear a mask in public if you can’t social distance,” Blackwood said. “Science says you ought to wear it even if you can social distance. So I think you have got to make that personal decision and I can’t make it for you.”
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