North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is ready to make changes to his orders prohibiting certain retailers from opening during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cooper plans to hold a Tuesday afternoon news conference, in which his office says he will share information about “the next phase of easing restrictions.” Changes would begin later this week, according to Dory MacMillan, a spokesperson for Cooper.
Current restrictions keep bars, movie theaters and amusement parks shuttered until Sept. 11. Gyms also have been closed since March. Some fitness chains already have announced they are reopening through an exception to serve customers with medical needs to exercise, news outlets reported.
Cooper announced on Monday his order requiring restaurants to stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m. has been extended until Oct. 2. That order has been in effect since July.
The state has suffered some recent COVID-19 setbacks, as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and N.C. State University reverted to online classes only after many cases clusters involving students. The two schools had more than 600 combined new cases last week.
