As new COVID cases decline, Cohen says NC wants to ease restrictions while staying safe

North Carolina officials are trying to find ways to ease public health restrictions as coronavirus case counts continue to decline and the number of people vaccinated statewide continues to rise, Dr. Mandy Cohen told a legislative committee on Tuesday.

“Our trends are moving in the right direction, and we know we want to reassess where we are in terms of easing restrictions,” said Cohen, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, to the N.C. House Health Committee.

“I know the Governor is considering that right now with input from our scientists,” Cohen said.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 189 is set to expire Sunday. The modified stay-at-home order includes a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., prohibition of on-site alcohol sales from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and capacity limitations for many gatherings and businesses. Last week, Cooper indicated that he will soon announce an update to the executive order.

Tuesday, Cohen said scientists are considering COVID-19 trends and emerging science. They are also thinking about specific settings, as well as the kinds of activities that take place there. For instance, it is impossible to eat and drink while wearing a mask.

“The times you need to take off your mask, that is when risk goes up,” Cohen said. “When you are indoors and you are sitting and you are in one place for a longer period of time, that is when risk goes up.”

Since coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths started spiking throughout the holidays — and surging afterward— they have eased up throughout February. On Tuesday, North Carolina reported 1,514 new cases, its lowest number of cases reported in a single day since Nov. 2, according to The News & Observer.

Monday, NC DHHS released an update to the state’s coronavirus alert system, which shows the level of community spread in all 100 counties. North Carolina now has 27 red counties, or critical community spread, which is a marked decrease from the 61 red counties earlier in February.

There are now 40 orange counties, or substantial community spread, an increase from 33 on Feb. 4. There are 33 yellow counties, an increase from the six yellow counties on Feb. 4.

Vaccines increasing

North Carolina is receiving a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccine, Cohen said, and knows that new, more infectious variants of the coronavirus are circulating around the state, complicating officials’ efforts to determine risk.

“We will move forward and ease restrictions, but you’re going to continue to hear us talk about the three Ws and the importance of it,” Cohen said, referring to the “wear a mask, wait six feet apart and wash your hands” public health messaging the state has adopted over the past year.

Rep. Phil Shepard, a Jacksonville Republican, asked Cohen when he would be able to visit his mother in a nursing home again.

“We have not been able to touch, see each other,” Shepard said. “We talk through a window. Her sister passed away last year and I had to call, tell her on the phone about that. We couldn’t go in and personally discuss that.”

Statewide, about 1.36 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including 117,791 long-term care residents and staff who were vaccinated through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens.

Between 80% and 90% of long-term care facility residents are deciding to take the COVID-19 vaccine, Cohen said, which has sparked conversation among state health officials about resuming visitations with restrictions.

“It is exactly the right time to be asking that question about changes in visitation policy,” Cohen said.

She noted that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services govern rules about visitation. State officials regulate adult care homes and some other settings, Cohen added.

If anything changes, Cohen added, it will be important to keep up with vaccinations and other COVID-19 safety procedures to guarantee that nursing homes are as safe as possible. Long-term care facilities have been among the places hardest-hit by the pandemic.

According to the federal government, 3,571 residents of long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19 in North Carolina and 20,047 have contracted the virus.

While Cohen expressed concern several times Tuesday about new, more infectious coronavirus variants, she also expressed hope that North Carolina will not see another spike in case counts caused by the mutating virus. Vaccinating is a major step in protecting the most vulnerable against the new variants, Cohen said, but continuing public health measures are also important.

Cohen stressed the importance of remaining aware of case levels, but said, “I am hopeful that we have done well enough to keep viral spread low that the variant does not become dominant here in North Carolina.”