Editorial: Make a plan; Follow the plan

Friday, April 24, 2020 -- Gov. Roy Cooper has presented a clear and properly cautious plan to gradually reopen social interaction in North Carolina and reignite its economic engine. It is a program that seeks to continue to keep as many citizens as possible safe and healthy while prudently getting them back to work, school, and out-and-about. The General Assembly now needs to work with him - not against him - to do it.

Posted 9:00 a.m. Apr 24, 2020 — Updated 9:00 a.m. Apr 24, 2020

CBC Editorial: Friday, April 24, 2020; Editorial #8533

The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

Gov. Roy Cooper has presented a clear and properly cautious plan to gradually reopen social interaction in North Carolina and reignite its economic engine. It is a program that seeks to continue to keep as many citizens as possible safe and healthy while prudently getting them back to work, school, and out-and-about.

The General Assembly now needs to work with him – not against him – to do it. If the legislative leadership needs to look for a model of the three-phase plan Cooper’s proposed, they need go no further than the White House’s program. Surely they can embrace that.

Cooper is right to wait another two weeks before even lifting the stay-at-home order he just extended. Too many indicators continue to increase – not level off or more significantly, decrease. “I will not risk the health of our people or our hospitals and easing these restrictions now will do that,” Cooper said.

Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services presented that criteria with clear graphics. You can see them here. Cooper said he’ll announce today his specific plans for the state’s schools, which are now closed through May 15.

“Data has driven our decisions,” Cohen said. “Those actions combined with North Carolinians’ resolve to stay at home to protect their loved ones have put our state on the right path. If we stick to these efforts right now, we will continue to see a slowing of the virus spread and we can slowly begin easing restrictions.”

Cooper’s plan, and the common-sense objectives that must be reached to implement it, provided one of the legislative leadership’s biggest demands. They have stressed the need for clear and transparent criteria and Cooper provides it. Testing, tracing and capacity, Cooper said, are the areas for measurement. At least 5,000 people a day need to be tested. The portion of positive results needs to level out and drop. The rate of hospitalizations must level off and drop – all over a 14-day period.

And the state needs to have at least a 30-day supply of protective masks and gowns. That is NOT the case now. The state has ordered 21 million N95 masks – the appropriate ones for health workers -- but received just 94,000. In one instance the state received 100,000 masks that were marked “KN95,” but they turned out to be mere dust masks. The counterfeit shipment was reported to state Attorney General Josh Stein.

North Carolinians understand these aren’t typical times. As much as they are concerned about themselves, they care about the health and well-being of their friends and neighbors. A recently completed statewide poll showed 80% of the state’s voters say the state’s measures on social distancing are the right things to do or should be even more aggressive. Just 16% say they should be relaxed.

Whenever it is that North Carolina, the nation and the world climbs out of the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, it won’t be because of some great victory. There is no “win” in this terrible situation.

But the effort must be to make sure the losses – to our lives and our economy – are kept to a minimum. Even more importantly, that we are positioned to recover as rapidly as possible.

Gov. Cooper’s plan does just that. It is time to get behind it so when the time comes, North Carolina moves ahead.

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