The coronavirus and efforts to slow its spread changed life in Macon County on March 26 when the Macon County Board of Commissioners issued a stay-at-home order.
The next day, Gov. Roy Cooper issued a stay-at-home order that prohibits citizens from leaving their homes for non-essential purposes.
Under the new restrictions, organized gatherings of 10 people or more in one room will be prohibited, except medical, shopping, workplace and essential government spaces.
Temporary lodging facilities like hotels, campgrounds and vacation rental houses are closed except for the purposes of sheltering the homeless, expanding emergency medical facilities or housing those with work-related exemptions.
Restrictions are also in place for visitors to the county, particularly those traveling from the “community spread” states of New York, New Jersey, Washington state and Florida.
“Persons whose point of departure originates from an area of community spread are requested to self-quarantine as appropriate for a period of 14 days,” said Warren Cabe, director of Macon County Emergency Services. “Depending on individual circumstances those persons could be subject to quarantine and/or Isolation orders by the Macon County Health director. Failure to comply is a Class II misdemeanor.”
The Macon County Sheriff’s Office has set up checkpoints where deputies hand out informational fliers.
Cabe said no motorists have been turned back at the county line.
“Our intent is to work with the community to gain compliance through cooperation and education instead of enforcement,” Cabe said.
“Realistically, we have no legal authority to ban people from coming into our county,” said Macon County Sheriff Robert Holland. “We have information checkpoints where we hand out fliers with information for the motoring public, letting them know what the restrictions are.”
Screenings were implemented at the Macon County Airport on March 27, Cabe said.
“Someone was on the ground there all the time that day, but flights into the airport have decreased significantly,” he said. “Currently the airport staff notify us when a flight arrives and an EMS supervisor is sent to conduct the screening.”
At the March 26 emergency meeting, county commissioner Paul Higdon had misgivings about the impact that minimizing hotel traffic would have not only on local revenue but also on local workers.
“I do wish we had private sector input into these decisions,” Higdon said. “A lot of people aren’t going to get paid tomorrow.”
Cabe said there are no easy answers in the midst of a pandemic, and that both public health and the local economy were going to be damaged in some capacity no matter what approach the county takes. He feels that the current restrictions strike the best possible balance of keeping people safe and not upending their lives.
“At this point, we’re at a crossroads,” Cabe said. “I would like to be optimistic and hopeful that the repercussions of what we’re seeing will not impact Macon County in the way that it has happened in other places. … We have no choice but to err on the side of caution.”
The other commissioners agreed with Cabe. Commissioner Ronnie Beale argued that flattening the curve of the infection with whatever means are appropriate would ultimately save lives and health and that the economy would do better in the long term if contact were minimized in the short term.
Public health director Carmine Rocco stressed the importance of social distancing.
“We’re putting people’s lives at risk, such as law enforcement, EMS, healthcare providers, nurses, doctors, you name it if people don’t take this seriously and stay home,” Rocco said.
The county’s stay-at-home order is in place until Wednesday, April 29.