Source: Raleigh News & Observer / Getty
With cases and other data trending downward in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday announced the state will ease COVID-19 restrictions starting Friday.
For example, the curfew goes away for the first time in a couple months. Also, for the first time in almost a year, Cooper is granting bars and taverns indoor service at 50% capacity. Alcohol sale cutoff times will be moved back two hours from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and lets those businesses operate at 30% capacity up to 250 people.
All of these new regulations are just the latest from Cooper showing his actions are based on politics and not science. The virus doesn’t know the difference between two hours at night, nor does it understand a curfew that wasn’t really enforceable. This is all part of the game being played by Cooper and others that continues to hurt North Carolina businesses.
The Governor’s decisions to relax restrictions comes as he is being pressured to “show his hand.” A bar owner in Greenville, N.C. filed a lawsuit against the state citing the following:
“Bars in wineries, distilleries, breweries, taprooms, brewpubs, cideries, meaderies, private clubs, bottle shops, and wine shops, as well as bars in restaurants and eating establishments, are all serving patrons indoors under limited capacity restrictions and other safety protocols. It is only private bars that have been shuttered for nearly 8 months.”
A part of the response from state officials in court documents said, “Additionally the very nature of alcohol is to act as a ‘disinhibitor,’ which may cause people to forget or fail to follow preventative measures or to engage in riskier behavior, such as extended interactions with non-household members, speaking more loudly or singing, and failing to abide by social distancing or face covering rules,”
Listen to Pat’s thoughts on Cooper’s COVID-19 restrictions below.
