North Carolina's coronavirus stay-at-home order goes into effect — and it's hitting bars hard
All on-site alcohol consumption sales must end by 9 p.m.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}North Carolina residents are now facing even tighter restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as Gov. Roy Cooper's modified stay-at-home order takes effect Friday.
All residents are required to stay at home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Businesses, including restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, personal care businesses, and most retail stores, will be required to close by 10 p.m.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}However, Cooper went a step farther to cap all on-site alcohol consumption sales by 9 p.m. – two hours earlier than the previous 11 p.m. cap. The order will remain in effect until at least Jan. 8, 2021, which means bars across the state will not be allowed to be open to ring in the New Year at midnight.
The new order, which mirrors moves from other governors around the country, is Cooper's latest effort to stem the “rapid increase" of cases in key metrics of North Carolina.
NYC BAR OWNER HANDCUFFED, TAKEN AWAY FOR ALLEGEDLY DEFYING CORONAVIRUS RULES: REPORT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"With this additional action beginning Friday, we hope to get these numbers down,” Cooper said in a statement on Tuesday when he announced the restrictions.
Over the last week, Cooper said that North Carolina’s case count has broken single-day records on three separate days. On two of those days, new cases totaled more than 6,000. Meanwhile, a month ago, cases were under 3,000 per day.
Prior to Tuesday, Cooper had warned residents that further action, including limiting dining and retail operations, would be taken to slow the spread of the virus if trends did not improve.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I know this year has been tiring and frustrating and painful. With the holidays here, many of us feel it more deeply. But the stakes are dire,” Cooper said in a video message posted on Twitter on Tuesday, adding that “This is truly a matter of life and death.”
However, for some bar owners, the latest order is devastating.
Coglin’s Retro Bar in Wilmington, North Carolina. (Zack Medford)
Zack Medford, bar owner and president of the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association, told Fox News the restrictions pose an unfair hardship on bars at their prime hours of service.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While restaurants are allowed to have 50% capacity indoors, bars are limited to outdoor seating at 30% capacity, he said.
Now, just after two months of being able to reopen their "livelihood" in October, he said they are being hit with a curfew during their busiest time.
"About 80% of most bars make almost all of their profits between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TEQUILA BAR ATTEMPTS TO RECLASSIFY AS A RELIGION IN HOPES OF REMAINING OPEN DURING THE PANDEMIC
Medford, who started off the year with five locations, said he has already lost more than $3 million and 80 employees.
Now, he said he will be surprised if he has more than one location by year's end.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We have been completely suffocated," he said.
Mohammad Jenatian, president of the Greater Charlotte Hospitality and Tourism Alliance, told Fox News that although nobody is happy about the restrictions, they are still tolerable compared to the alternative — a total ban.
"We were all expecting much harsher restrictions ordered by the governor early this week," he said. "Considering the alternatives which could have been a total ban on indoor dining, tolerating a four weeks stoppage of alcohol sales at 9 p.m. is doable."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added that the only way businesses can recover and "go back to some kind of normal" is for everyone to do their part.