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Mecklenburg County could be ready for Phase 2 by next week, Harris says

Health Director Gibbie Harris says she believes Mecklenburg County will be prepared to enter Phase 2 of Governor Roy Cooper's reopening plan next week.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County should be ready to enter Phase 2 of Governor Roy Cooper's COVID-19 reopening plan next week, Health Director Gibbie Harris said Thursday. 

"At this point, I would say yes," Harris told reporters during a briefing. 

Harris also addressed inconsistencies in models, saying "none of them are actually accurate," and that they're only as good as the data the county has on hand. She also said there's no data to support that Mecklenburg County has seen its coronavirus peak. 

Harris told reporters the county's number of positive test results has increased but that's due to an increase in testing. The trends for positive tests are stable at this time, Harris explained. 

5/20/20 UPDATE: North Carolina to enter Phase 2 reopening Friday

RELATED: North Carolina extends stay home order, announces multi-phase reopening plan

The following guidelines are part of Phase 2 of Cooper's plan, after 2-3 weeks of Phase 1 reopening. Cooper said earlier this week the state likely wouldn't begin Phase 2 until at least May 22. 

  • Lift Stay At Home order with strong encouragement for vulnerable populations to continue staying at home to stay safe
  • Allow limited opening of restaurants, pools, personal care services, and other businesses that can follow safety protocols including the potential need to reduce capacity
  • Allow gathering at places such as houses of worship and entertainment venues at reduced capacity
  • Increase in number of people allowed at gatherings
  • Continue rigorous restrictions on nursing homes and other congregant care settings 
  • Plans to originally reopen bars, gyms, and playgrounds at the start of Phase 2 have been postponed, Governor Roy Cooper announced on May 20.

    5/20/20 UPDATE: North Carolina to enter Phase 2 reopening Friday

As of Thursday, there were 16,507 lab confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 616 deaths. From Wednesday to Thursday the state is reporting 691 new cases, which is up from 470 new cases the day before.

"We are seeing our day over day new case counts being about stable.  We’re somewhere between 400-600 new cases a day.  Numbers are leveling,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, said on Wednesday.

RELATED: Cooper to provide update as COVID-19 case counts remain stable in NC

RELATED: Coronavirus whistleblower warns Congress that US lacks plan for vaccine

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