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North Carolina Hospitals Ask Cooper To Issue 'Shelter In Place' Order

By Neal Charnoff
Published March 24, 2020 at 10:56 AM EDT
Gov. Roy Cooper speaks to supporters during a primary election night party in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Cooper has not issued a "shelter in place" order for North Carolina, but has said the state "is preparing for every scenario." (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

A coalition of North Carolina hospitals has asked Governor Roy Cooper to issue a “shelter in place” order to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases. 

The N.C. Healthcare Association represents all 130 hospitals in the state. 

The News & Observer reports the group sent a letter to Cooper Monday afternoon asking him to immediately order people to “shelter in place” to help stave off a surge in new coronavirus cases.

Steve Lawler, the association's president, wrote that because testing for COVID-19 is still limited, it's unknown if or how a sudden rise in new cases might overwhelm the healthcare system. He said it would be at least two weeks after an order is issued before the state would see a change in the trajectory of cases.

Lawler didn't specify what a "shelter in place" order would mean for residents, but he wrote that the goal would be to limit non-essential outings.

Cooper's office issued a statement echoing a point the governor made on Monday when he said the state “is preparing for every scenario.”

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here.
Tags
Politics & Government coronavirusnccHospitalsshelter in placeCOVID-19roy cooper
Neal Charnoff
Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.
See stories by Neal Charnoff

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