A look back at the past month: Charlotte in the time of coronavirus, in pictures
We’ve never experienced anything like this before — not in most of our lifetimes and not in Charlotte, at least.
The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. By Jan. 21, 2020, it arrived in the United States, in Washington State. It still felt far away from North Carolina, but it would not for long.
The first reported case in North Carolina was on March 3.
COVID-19 reached Mecklenburg County on March 11.
For CharlotteFive, the coronavirus changed everything about the way we cover our community. “Your guide to the city, 5 days a week” our slogan proclaims across our daily newsletter.
But how do we cover a city that is forced to change without warning and practically overnight?
For the past month, the way we’ve covered our city has been anything but typical. Here’s what it has looked like, from our newsroom:
March 10
Our lead headline that day: Coronavirus not scaring you away from travel? There are flight deals from Charlotte.
COVID wasn’t here yet — not that we knew of, anyway.
In the afternoon, we stopped by Leah and Louise at Camp North End to see the new space before it opened to the public on March 20. Co-owner Subrina Collier and I made small talk over the dishes that her husband was bringing out for us to photograph. Coronavirus came up in casual conversation, as it was starting to more and more those days. We chatted about it, wondering aloud about how much impact it would have on our local food and beverage industry.
Photographer Alex Cason and I then headed over to Deluxe, the Fine Art of Dining, a new-ish restaurant uptown that was doing some really spectacular things with its plating. I was writing an article calling this place “the most Instagrammable restaurant in Charlotte” and I was going to tell people this is where you go if you want to take spectacular food photos.
In hindsight, this would be the last slice of normal for CharlotteFive’s food coverage for a while.
March 11
In addition to our “25 ways to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day” story, we ran an article titled: “COVID-19: Should I avoid crowds? Restaurants, the gym, this weekend’s big pub crawl?”
The NBA suspended its season after all the games on March 11. We were in the middle of planning a cool video with P.J. Washington ahead of his bobblehead day with the Charlotte Hornets. We had recently published an article about how you can have beer delivered straight to your seat via the Hornets app. That luxury feels so far away now.
The first COVID-19 positive case was identified in Mecklenburg County. Grocery store shelves were empty.
March 12
Rich & Bennett’s St. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl was postponed amid coronavirus concerns. The Charlotte Go Green Festival was postponed and the Whitewater Center’s Green River Revival was canceled. We also ran a story about how to choose wine without feeling intimidated. On a normal day, this might have been a well-read story. But the world was flipping upside down, so not many people read it.
March 13
‘Lead by example, even when it’s really painful.’ Local spots began making the difficult decision to close temporarily to stop COVID-19. Sycamore Brewery was the first, followed by others over the next few days, including Wooden Robot, Charlotte Beer Garden, Girl Tribe Co., Barre Code and Hygge.
Once the pause in service announcements began, they didn’t stop. One by one or two by two or sometimes four by four, restaurant closing announcements trickled into our team for the next few days. With each owner’s decision came a little bit of heartache.
Neighborhood Theatre postponed March 13th’s Steven Marley performance and canceled March 14th’s MIJA show.
March 14
Grocery store employees become one of the groups of unsung heroes in the fight against COVID. “Harris Teeter employees at the Rea Farms location were a force to be reckoned with at 7:00 AM this morning. Hustling to restock with smiling faces and warm greetings,” Tracey Renfro commented on our Instagram post.
March 17
At 5 p.m. on March 17 under executive order from Gov. Roy Cooper, all restaurant dining rooms closed. Restaurants were still allowed to serve takeout and delivery orders. This was a St. Patrick’s Day like we’d never seen before. The YMCA closed at the end of business on Tuesday, and blood banks asked for our help.
March 18
‘Today, we had to let 85 people go,’ read our lead headline of our March 18 newsletter. We published a first-person account of all the restaurant changes, written by restaurant co-owner Jamie Brown, who owns Growlers, Crepe Cellar, Haberdish, Reigning Doughnuts and the not-yet-open Supperland. Jamie’s story was similar to dozens of restaurant owners all over our city, making difficult choices to cut staff — hopefully temporarily — to allow employees to file for unemployment.
Leah & Louise postponed its grand opening. Instead, it announced pickup and delivery options. The county ordered gyms and fitness centers to close, and gyms started incorporating more virtual workouts.
March 19
A CDC report issued March 18 came with a warning: COVID-19 is seriously sickening American adults of all ages, not just elderly or immune-compromised individuals. This was not simply a “bad cold or mild flu” for young, healthy adults. A few days later, Mecklenburg County released data that stated almost half of coronavirus positive at that time were individuals ages 20-39.
March 20
Summit Coffee opened a temporary second location at a former bank drive-thru in Davidson. Animal Care & Control announced an urgent need for foster families. One caveat: Don’t foster a pet if you’re not feeling well.
Evening Muse sold beers to-go in its doorway. Goodyear House cooked a 120-pound pig overnight for a social distancing pig pickin’ the next day.
March 22
One day after its pig pickin’, Goodyear House announced it would close for the duration of the pandemic. “Like the rest of the world, our state, our city and NoDa, we don’t know how the other side of this looks. That said, we know one thing: we have lost no love, no appreciation, no optimism for the future. Just like all challenges we have each faced in life, we will all courageously face this one and we will undoubtedly come out on top,” the NoDa restaurant posted on Facebook.
March 23
Neighborhood bars began pivoting to become grocery stores. NoDa Company Store is one of the first to announce its new mission.
March 24
Uptown’s streets were quieter, even during lunch rush hour. Purell was pure gold, and there was a Daflemingo mural to prove it.
March 25
“It happened to me.” We published one Charlotte native’s story about his coronavirus diagnosis. “I didn’t think anything of it because I normally develop a cough around this time of year due to the pollen in North Carolina and having asthma,” 32-year-old Gene Hoksins told CharlotteFive.
After several days of selling to-go beers in its doorway, The Evening Muse decided to stop. “We want to respect/provide for proper social distancing. It is also very hard to sell beer to a ghost town,” The Muse’s Chris Koster later told CharlotteFive. “Especially being in the heart of NoDa, I feel personally responsible/motivated to help provide reasons to stay home, not come out to walk around the neighborhood,” he said.
“This is bigger than trying to make the company a couple of extra dollars. This is about doing what we can to see humanity through to the other side. The faster we flatten the curve, the faster we can get back to work.”
March 26
Mecklenburg County’s stay-at-home order went into effect at 8 a.m.
Local Goodwill stores closed and asked customers to stop leaving donations (and trash) outside.
March 27
It will be impossible to recollect this time in our lives without thinking about the toilet paper shortage. Charlotte restaurants with extra rolls started handing them out. Makes sense: It’s not as if people were using the restaurants’ restrooms as often.
March 29
The city’s streets may be emptier, but its parks and greenways were full.
“Close the parks! People aren’t reading or listening to instructions. I don’t feel like being quarantined thru the Fall because some people have cabin fever after day 1 inside. The average person has NOT been tested. We don’t who has it or who may be carriers,” @imsojewel commented on our Instagram post with the above video showing Charlotte parks.
“Some of us don’t have the luxury of having an outdoor space. I don’t have a balcony, patio or backyard,” @bronzeclt stated on the same post.
March 30
Our local coffee shops had us covered. Many stayed open for to-go orders, meaning we could still get our local beans. Much needed in this new era of productivity at home.
We caught up with Yosefry Cabreja, delivering packages for Fed Ex in the Shannon Park neighborhood. He was just one of many in our community, out there doing what they could to get us what we needed to stay safe — and at home. “*Sigh*...Yall about to have folks ordering stuff they don’t need hoping Mr. Cabreja show up,” @cindersevens commented on our Instagram post.
April 3
The hot topic of the week was the overcrowding of parks and greenways and what we should or shouldn’t be doing for outdoor activity. Running is OK, but the rules have changed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Maintaining social distance became more important than ever.
April 6
These were the (literal) signs of COVID-19 in Charlotte.
April 7
SOCIAL DISTANCING WORKING and PARK CHANGES: There was evidence the county’s stay-at-home order helped to “flatten the curve” slightly, according to Public Health Director Gibbie Harris. County manager Dena Diorio announced April 7 that Mecklenburg County would close gates at public parks, limiting access to those who can walk or bicycle into the spaces. Park rangers would be stepping up enforcement of the new guidelines, she said.
“While this is a good idea and might produce the desired effects, it’s another measure that disproportionately impacts people with less privilege,” Marie Hayes commented on our Instagram post. “Most parks and greenways are in more affluent areas In Charlotte, meaning most people who can access them now are affluent, leaving those in less safe neighborhoods less able to access safe areas to get outside. Getting outside is a huge benefit for mental health, especially right now when so many of us can really need it.”
April 9
Quarantine snacks on the ready: 7th Street Public Market has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there are a few vendors still able to do grab-and-go, said It’s Poppin’ Gourmet Kettle Corn owner Janelle Doyle.
It’s Poppin’ is open Thursday-Sunday from 12-4 p.m To get popcorn, order online then choose pickup. Call when you arrive for curbside pickup.
Editor’s note: We will continue to update this story as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
