North Carolinians will end 2020 the same way they spent most of it – indoors.
On Dec. 8, Gov. Roy Cooper said the state would observe a modified stay-at-home order between Friday, Dec. 11 and Friday, Jan. 8. Under this order, all citizens are required to stay at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. with the exception of those traveling to and from work, those caring for family members or those obtaining food, medical care, fuel or social services.
The decision was driven by rapid increases in COVID-19 cases – the week before the curfew was announced, the state saw a new record for case counts on three separate days and positive returns on tests jumped above 10 percent.
“Our new modified stay at home order aims to limit gatherings and get people home where they are safer, especially during the holidays,” Cooper said. “It’s also a reminder that we must be vigilant the rest of the day – wearing a face mask when we are with people we don’t live with, keeping a safe distance from others and w ashing our hands a lot.”
In small towns like Franklin, the impact of the curfew is likely to be minimized. It may change travel plans for some people this holiday season, but day-to-day life will go uninterrupted for most. Linda Harbuck, director of Franklin’s Chamber of Commerce, said most area businesses won’t have to do anything differently to stay open for this version of the stay at home order.
“The main businesses that will be affected are those who sell alcohol,” Harbuck said. “Most of our retail and specialty shops already close by 10 p.m.”
It’s already been a hard year for bars and restaurants, but compared to having to shut down completely earlier this year, the curfew seems manageable. Lazy Hiker, for example, usually only stays open past 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and then only for another hour. Taproom manager Marie Lawrence said they’ll stop selling alcohol at 9 p.m. on these nights and give everyone plenty of time to get home safely. Their number-one priority will be the safety of their patrons.
“[The curfew] may encourage more people to come out at the same time, so that’s a worry, but we want everyone to stay healthy and safe so that we can all get back to normal, whatever normal may be,” Lawrence said.
Even New Year’s Eve won’t be lost to the curfew. On Tuesday night, Franklin’s Tourism Development Authority authorized a $2,100 funding request for the seventh annual Ruby Drop, which will now celebrate the transition to 2021 to 9 p.m. Organizer Tim Crabtree said participants can expect a similar experience to year’s past, just earlier in the day. If anything, he hopes that the earlier start time will make it accessible to more people than in years past.
“We are planning on doing the same stuff that we’ve done, it just won’t run as late into the night,” Crabtree said. “We’ll probably promote like we normally do I think about seven o’clock. People can come get dinner and we’ll try to get our stage and our music going by about 6:30.”
For more information on the modified stay at home order, read it online at governor.nc.gov/news/executive-orders.