Governor Roy Cooper has waived restrictions to increase access to caregivers to provide flexible child care and elder care during the coronavirus emergency. The Order provides flexibility to local health departments working to adapt to the increased need for their resources.
Additionally, it provides for ways for Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices to enact social distancing protections, and waives some registration requirements to ensure resources can be delivered by truck throughout the state.
Press Releases
Governor Roy Cooper has written to President Donald J. Trump to ask for key waivers that will allow North Carolina to adapt federal food and healthcare programs to better serve North Carolinians in the COVID-19 crisis.
"We need to get food to children who are now not in school and these waivers will help," said Governor Cooper. "They also will help healthcare providers who need to concentrate on patients, not paperwork."
State Public Health and Emergency Management Officials will be available today for a dial-in media briefing at 2 p.m. regarding COVID-19. Reporters can call in to monitor the remarks and ask questions. A livestream video feed will be available from a pool camera. In order to maintain social distancing guidelines and further prevent the spread of COVID-19, the media room at the State Emergency Operations Center will not be open for media to attend in person.
What: COVID-19 Media Availability
Letter can be read HERE
Today, Governor Roy Cooper wrote to North Carolina’s Congressional Delegation thanking them for their partnership in combatting the new Coronavirus and sharing a list of specific funding priorities on behalf of North Carolina.
The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Carlos Hernandez as warden at Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville.
Hernandez, 56, had been the warden at Avery-Mitchell Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine since 2016.
State Public Health officials and Emergency Management officials will be available today at 2 p.m. to media regarding COVID-19.
What: COVID-19 Media Availability
Who: State Public Health Officials, Department of Health and Human Services
Emergency Management Officials, Department of Public Safety
When: Wednesday, March 18, 2020; 2 p.m.
ReBuild NC Centers throughout eastern North Carolina will be temporarily closed through at least April 1 based on COVID-19 public health guidelines issued by Governor Roy Cooper and the state Department of Health and Human Services. The centers serve as regional offices for ReBuild NC case managers working to help hurricane survivors navigate the disaster recovery process. Officials with the ReBuild NC program will continue to monitor public health information to determine when it is appropriate to reopen the centers.
Governor Roy Cooper today announced NC 2-1-1 by United Way of North Carolina as a resource for people to call for assistance related to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
NC 2-1-1 is an information and referral service that families and individuals can call to obtain free and confidential information on health and human services resources within their community. NC 2-1-1 operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and resources are available in most languages.
Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced that North Carolina restaurants and bars will be closed to sit-down service and limited to take-out or delivery orders starting at 5 pm tonight, March 17, 2020. Grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores, are exempt from this order and will remain open, though they may not serve sit-down food.
Governor Roy Cooper and members of the Coronavirus Task Force are holding a media briefing today at 2 pm. At that briefing, Governor Cooper will announce a new executive order in response to COVID-19 that closes restaurants and bars for dine-in customers but allows them to continue takeout and delivery orders. The executive order will also include an expansion of unemployment insurance to help North Carolina workers affected by COVID-19.