GREENSBORO — Local officials were dismayed with the state's request that they should "improve compliance" with Gov. Roy Cooper's executive orders involving COVID-19 restrictions and defended their response in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
But one county official said it's time for all of Guilford County's local governments to come together to address COVID-19.
A letter sent Tuesday by Cooper's administration asked Guilford and 35 other counties to consider issuing local emergency proclamations or adopting ordinances with restrictions to contain the virus. Suggestions included:
- Imposing fines for businesses that do not enforce the mask requirements.
- Establishing lower mass gathering limits than 25 indoors and 50 outdoors permitted in most settings statewide.
- Curtailing the sale of alcohol earlier than the statewide curfew of 11 p.m.
- Closing high-risk venues, such as bars and night spots.
- Limiting restaurant service.
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"I am quite perplexed as to the recommendations," Jeff Phillips, chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement released Thursday about the letter from state Health Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen and state Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks.
While Alamance, Davidson, Randolph and Rockingham are among the counties encouraged to adopt local mandates, adjacent Forsyth County was not included in the list. The letter notes that counties receiving it met the following metrics: 300 or more new cases in the past 14 days and identified by the White House Task Force as a county of concern; rate of cases is greater than 50 cases per 10,000 people; or is among the three most populous counties in the state.
Noting that residents and visitors frequently travel to and from other counties, Phillips said in the statement that a "localized approach would, in my view, be detrimental on many levels and would have little, if any, real impact on a community such as ours."
He said that during the initial weeks of the pandemic, when local states of emergency were common, "we saw extensive confusion and frustration amongst citizens ... due to the many inconsistencies between various jurisdictions within our region along with the significantly negative economic and social impacts that were quickly revealed."
Phillips said he "adamantly opposes" tighter restrictions while pointing out that Cooper could do this himself if he wishes.
County Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston had a different take and has vowed to take action. He said it's too easy to toss the response back to the governor.
Alston said he has already talked with Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan and plans to reach out to High Point Mayor Jay Wagner to begin forming a countywide task force to respond to the pandemic. He hopes to formally propose the group at the next commissioners meeting on Nov. 5.
He said city and county officials need to work together to spot where the problems are. That could be anything from pinpointing problems in nursing homes to schools or community groups.
"We need to get our emergency services folks to put together some figures of where the problems are and report back to us on Nov. 5," Alston said, noting the commissioners' next scheduled meeting.
Alston said Phillips, who did not seek reelection, will be ending his tenure on the board on Dec. 7, but the time for action is sooner. Alston would like to see the task force meet between Nov. 5 and early December.
He said Guilford County has about $9 million left from the $93 million it received from the federal CARES Act and that money should be reserved for whatever steps officials take next.
"We should have a plan of action by December," Alston said. "We need to have all hands on deck. We don't need to have another life needlessly taken because we're dragging our feet."
Cooper said he's trying to get local communities at higher risk of COVID-19 spread to take action.
"We're working hard to bring community leaders together and reemphasizing local government authority in areas where this virus may be more of an issue,” Cooper told the Winston-Salem Journal on Wednesday. "It is no different in terms of trying to stem the spread of the virus from how we began back in March, April and June."
Vaughan agreed that a piecemeal approach wouldn't be effective and that local communities need to work together.
"This needs to be a coordinated approach," she said.
She also said Greensboro was in the forefront of public mask giveaways in the spring with the financial help of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation. Vaughan also noted the difficulty with enforcing penalties for noncompliance.
"We don't want to criminalize not wearing a mask, and our police department is stressed," she said.
Both Phillips and Vaughan said they've had success educating residents about COVID-19, rather than punishing them for noncompliance.
The community's goal should be to keep businesses open and return children safely to school, Vaughan said.
"The key to this is prevention, and people need to do their part and take this seriously," she said.