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Doctors, elected leaders call for statewide shelter-in-place order

The request comes as patients in multiple hospitals across North Carolina are in critical condition.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper stopped short of ordering a full lockdown Monday as some doctors and elected leaders call for a statewide shelter-in-place order. 

Instead of banning all non-essential activity, the governor opted to continue gradually closing certain businesses and to urge people, especially those most at risk, to voluntarily stay home.

Novant Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eric Eskioglu said he believes a mandatory stay at home order is the best option to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19.

“We’re urging everybody to stay at home as much as possible to help us prevent this infection from rapidly increasing. As healthcare professionals, we would like to see this ordered from state and statewide officials,” Dr. Eskioglu said. “This is the best way to bend the curve.”

Dr. Eskioglu said there are now some patients in critical condition in multiple hospitals across North Carolina. He said COVID-19 is moving faster than humans can keep up, citing data out of China that shows four out of five people who get COVID-19 are infected by people who didn’t even know they had the virus.

“My biggest fear is that we’re going to have so many COVID-19 cases that we’re going to be overwhelmed as a health system,” Dr. Eskioglu said. “That’s going to strain our resources to take care of other emergencies, including heart attacks, trauma, fractures, brain bleeds.”

Mecklenburg County Public Health has planned for a pandemic. 

The county’s plan, updated just last month, shows doctors’ concerns are warranted.

Depending on the severity of a flu pandemic, the county projects anywhere from 137,000 to 319,000 people would fall ill, 1,700 to 5,300 would need hospitalization and 320 to more than 1,300 people would die. 

Mecklenburg County has less than 400 Intensive Care Unit beds, according to state records.

RELATED: Salisbury VA ready to help civilians if hospitals become overwhelmed

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Harden takes comfort knowing healthcare workers and first responders are working around the clock.

“They’re prepared and they’re working hard to make sure that we do everything we can to save the most lives that we can in Mecklenburg County,” Commissioner Harden said.

Despite those efforts, she too thinks the governor needs to lock down the state. Commissioner Harden said the current guidelines are confusing to many.

“I think staying at home is the most protective and clearest guideline that we can give,” she said. “Everything I hear from my seniors is that they want us as elected officials to do everything we can to slow the rate of spread of the virus and to be as protective as possible. I believe that we need to enact the most stringent protective policies and if that’s shelter in place or stay at home then that needs to happen, because what I can tell is people are confused.”

RELATED: Impact of social distancing could take weeks to measure

Data from former Medicare and Medicaid head Andy Slavitt suggest San Francisco, which is under lockdown, is having more success containing the pandemic than Miami, which does not have a lockdown.

“WE CAN CONTROL THIS,” Slavitt tweeted, citing the data. “If it doesn’t feel like it’s working…understand this. You are responsible for any good news.”

Dr. Eskioglu said limiting interaction with other people will buy time and help hospitals maintain their beds, personal protective equipment and resources, while keeping the most vulnerable healthy.

“Shelter in place to save lives and loves,” he said. “If you have elderly parents, shop for them and drop it off at their doorstep. Don’t interact with them.”

He said weekly grocery runs, trips to the pharmacy to pick up medications and medical emergencies are examples of essential reasons to leave the house.

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