County to end its COVID-19 state of emergency
After more than two years, Randolph County is set to emerge from its self-imposed state-of-emergency.
A state of emergency allows for public officials to utilize special authority. They are usually declared before, during, or after a natural disaster.
A response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Randolph County's state of emergency is scheduled to end midnight on Tuesday.
"At the start of the pandemic, back in March of 2020, I issued and declared a state of emergency for Randolph County Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," County Chairperson Darrell Frye said, adding that this was among the longest states of emergencies enacted by Randolph County.
The declaration set in motion several changes. These included giving the county manager the authority to activate Randolph County's crisis management team to facilitate the continuance of governance.
Originally, the state of emergency applied to the unincorporated areas of the county. Frye praised the continued cooperation between Randolph County and incorporated towns.
"We kept in constant contact with our municipalities along the way," Frye said, later describing how the county came together in response to the pandemic. "We set up an operations center over at our Emergency Services Building. Our Health Department set up permanent residence in there for months. We did weekly contact with our citizens. We had various folks from our agencies in the county to speak to the public...i think we did about as well as we could have done through that process. I think we weathered that and came through it as good or better than any county."
Randolph County's state of emergency coincided with the statewide state of emergency called by Governor Roy Cooper and initiated two days prior on March 14. Frye said, the reasoning behind imposing a state of emergency was to make Randolph County eligible for pandemic-related aid.
The state also plans to end its state of emergency on Aug. 15.
This article originally appeared on The Courier-Tribune: Randolph county's state of emergency to end on Tuesday
