“Our rapid and fair distribution of vaccines and our continued progress with the COVID-19 statistics tells us that we can move forward with easing restrictions if we do it safely,” Cooper said.
Alcohol curfews will be abolished from Friday, allowing restaurants and bars to sell adult drinks at any time.
The North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association said it “celebrates the governor’s decision.”
These are the most important changes: in some places the indoor and outdoor capacity can be increased by 100% with safety protocols. They include museums, aquariums, retail and shops, salons and personal care shops.
– Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) March 23, 2021
Many bars have closed their doors permanently due to restrictions they faced during the pandemic. The return of a final 2 a.m. phone call is a boon to those who survived, the organization said.
“This is the day we’ve been waiting for over a year,” said NCBATA president Zack Medford. “Running a business with drastically limited capacity and hours of operation is a daunting task, especially when your business was forcibly closed for over 11 months. We are so excited to see a return to normal. Faced with tougher restrictions than restaurants.bar, hotel bars and strip club bars, but can serve until 2am is a game changer.
“We are grateful for the unremitting efforts of the NCBATA bars and allies,” he added. “Without their support, we could never be in a position to make this announcement. Now let’s get on with the vaccination of North Carolina and return the bars to 100 percent capacity. After such a devastating 12 months, we have more help than ever. needed to ensure that these small businesses can make up at least some of their lost ground. ”
WATCH: Cooper Makes Announcement About Reopenings
Many business capacity limits will be affected – and some businesses are allowed to reopen at 100 percent capacity.
Cooper said his next Executive Order will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, as he further eased restrictions in the state.
Shops, salons, museums and aquariums are some of the companies that are allowed to resume their full capacity. However, physical measures of distance must be maintained within those establishments.
“Masks and six feet of social distance will still be required,” Cooper said.
Other companies are allowed to open at 75 or 50 percent of the capacity.
This includes restaurants, amusement parks, wineries, breweries and distilleries, recreational facilities such as bowling alleys, ice rinks and rock climbing centers, gyms and fitness studios and swimming pools.
“We are in a very promising place. As the key metrics of COVID-19 in North Carolina improve and vaccinations increase, we can responsibly leverage our dimmer switch approach to ease restrictions based on science and data,” said NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen Tuesday.
Arenas and stadiums will allow 50 percent of their capacity, as will bars, cinemas, gambling facilities, tobacco lounges and nightclubs.
Executive Order No. 204 will also increase the limits for mass meetings. The number of people who can gather indoors will increase from 25 to 50 and the number of people who can gather outside will increase from 50 to 100.
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Cooper stressed that physical distance rules must remain in effect on all buildings in North Carolina, regardless of the capacity category the building falls under.
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