CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Governor Roy Cooper said the Stay At Home order won't be flipped off like a light switch, instead, it will be more like a dimmer -- one step at a time in an effort to continue fighting the virus, while slowly getting back to work.
"Our efforts to flatten the curve are working," Cooper said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Atrium Health and Novant Health CEOs said a field hospital in Mecklenburg County is no longer needed. They noted they've made enough beds available to treat the projected number of cases.
"I think they are making good decisions based upon looking at their data," Cooper said in response to the decision not to build the field hospital.
The governor also teased at easing some restrictions to the stay at home order.
"We can't stay home forever," he said.
He noted three areas that the state has to show progress in if we want to see restrictions loosen up.
"Testing, tracing and trends," Cooper noted.
Health officials want to see an increase in testing and make sure it's widely available across the state.
They also want a better process to trace the virus in order to find out who has it and who it has been passed onto.
"But it [contact tracing] requires a lot of people and a lot of legwork," he said.
Overall trends will also need to fall, but the governor warned that there will be a new normal for quite some time.
"You may see more people wearing masks, or having their temperature checked," Cooper said. "A restaurant you may go into may have tables that are only partially full."
Cooper said health officials believe things will not be back to normal until there's a vaccine, which could be at least a year away.
He does believe when restrictions are eased, some industries can get back to work, but social distancing will still be important to ensure we don't see a spike in cases.
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