CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A group in North Carolina is pushing elected leaders to re-open businesses in the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Reopen NC group is a grassroots movement that wants to end the shutdown and reopen the state no later than May 1. On Facebook, the group has more than 23,000 members as of Monday night.
According to a press release, the group believes the scientific data being released does not support a continued shutdown of the state and that the economy cannot sustain this.
"We want to Reopen NC,” said Ashley Smith, one of the administrators of the group. “Our economy cannot stand for this."
The group is planning a rally at the State Capitol building in Raleigh on Tuesday while maintaining social distancing expectations. Supporters are asked to simultaneously honk their cars for five seconds every 15 minutes starting at 11:15 a.m. to bring attention to their message.
In a news conference Monday, Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), said the social distance measures that have been put in place are working.
"We are, in fact, achieving our goal of flattening the curve, having fewer people get sick at the same time,” Cohen said.
Between March 16 and April 12, 561,009 unemployment claims were filed in North Carolina.
Governor Roy Cooper said Monday the state is considering data for deaths, hospitalizations, and the number of new cases in its decision to ease restrictions.
“As some people want us to completely obliterate these restrictions, it would be a catastrophe,” Cooper said.
The Governor urged people to continue following the stay-at-home order for the next two weeks so officials can start considering lifting the restrictions.
“The better we can do right now in these two weeks,” Cooper said, “the more we can stay at home, the more we can flatten this curve, the more we would be able to ease restrictions going into the month of May.”