RALEIGH — Starting Friday, North Carolina will reopen more businesses under a so-called Phase 2.5.
The directive announced Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper will allow gyms, bowling alleys and other indoor recreational facilities to open at a reduced 30% capacity, but keep other businesses that have been shuttered for months closed longer as the state works toward a Phase 3 reopening.
Citing flattening numbers of COVID-19 cases and the percentage of tests coming back positive, Cooper said North Carolina was equipped to further open its economy. Cooper has kept Phase 2 in effect since late May.
“Because of our stable numbers, we’re ready to take a careful step forward,” Cooper said in a news conference.
The executive order increases the number of people allowed to gather indoors from 10 to 25 and the number of people who can assemble outdoors from 25 to 50. Cooper’s directive allows playgrounds to reopen and museums and aquariums to operate at 50% capacity.
Bars, movie theaters, nightclubs, dance halls, amusement parks and indoor entertainment venues are to remain closed.
Cooper said the mandate for face coverings will stay in place. If people continue to follow health protocols, he said, he doesn’t anticipate a surge in cases as more businesses open.
“These careful movements forward should not affect the viral spread,” Cooper said.
For months, North Carolina has remained in its second phase of reopening, drawing the ire of some Republicans who worry the state has been too slow to reopen.
Lt. Governor Forest’s statement on the Cooper Administration’s Phase 2.5:
“Is this decision based on science or politics?” asked Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a Republican. “The science has shown for months that gyms, playgrounds and bowling alleys are safe. It must be the politics and polling that is changing with this new decision. The same holds true for other businesses and for schools.”
Other states have opened businesses and schools, he said.
“It’s time for fear and panic to be replaced with hope and opportunity,” said Forest, who is running against Cooper in the Nov. 3 general election. “It’s time for Gov. Cooper to actually protect the most vulnerable and give North Carolinians their freedoms and livelihoods back.”
Cooper pushed reopening up from its original expiration date of Sept. 11. But the governor’s plan will bring little relief to gyms and bowling alleys, owners say. For many, it’s too little, too late.
On Monday, two popular gyms announced their plans to reopen in defiance of Cooper’s orders. Planet Fitness planned to restart its gyms this week, as did Crunch Fitness, reported the News & Observer.
Multiple reporters asked Cooper what data changed for him to push up his reopening plan. North Carolina had 23,540 confirmed active cases, 946 hospitalizations, and 2,702 deaths on Tuesday.
“The numbers are stable, and some of them are declining,” Cooper said Tuesday during a news conference. “That’s positive. We also want to do things to spur our economy, encourage people to exercise. This is a dimmer switch, a careful step that we’re making.”
Cooper’s reopening plan won’t help gyms and bowling alleys survive the financial damage of the shutdowns, owners say. The 30% capacity restrictions are too strict for many to make ends meet.
In Concord, Steve Pinkerton watched as Vitality Fitness’s revenues plummeted 80% in April, and flatlined in May. He doesn’t expect to recover for months. Some of his tenants never will. He’s already lost a dance studio and another small business. Almost a third of his monthly lease revenue is gone, but his mortgage remains.
“The long-term shutdowns have crushed these gyms,” Pinkerton said. “You’re taking away this healthy outlet from people. But don’t worry, ABC stores will still be open.”
Pinkerton says he’s angry that North Carolina was among the last states to reopen its gyms.
In late August, North Carolina was one of seven states that still shuttered gyms. But Arizona reopened gyms on Aug. 27, and New Jersey freed gyms to operate at 25% capacity on Tuesday. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to make an announcement this week to reopen gyms after Labor Day, according to the Detroit Free Press. New York, too, will reopen gyms in some capacity this month.
Pinkerton worries he’s lost some customers for good.
Some surveys already confirm his fear. Roughly 63% of gym members have canceled or are considering canceling their memberships. That puts North Carolina in the top five states with the lowest percentage of people planning to return to their gyms, according to an August survey by RunRepeat, which questioned 5,055 gym members worldwide.
“He’ll reopen, but the damage is done,” Pinkerton said. “It will take people months before they’re comfortable coming back to a gym. People have this misconception that you can switch, open, and everything will be good. It’s not.”
Bowling alley owners are similarly frustrated.
Cooper’s reopening plan isn’t feasible, said David Carmichael, who owns Strike & Barrel bowling alley in Wake Forest. Reopening to less than 50% of capacity will actually cost his business money.
Carmichael launched his bowling alley fewer than five months before the pandemic hit. He sunk another $200,000 to add a restaurant and 75 jobs to the alley. That project is now frozen, and its lenders are increasingly wary.
All his employees are gone now, on leave. The bowling alley has lost $500,000 and expects to lose more.
Carmichael says he has gone numb to reopening. Bowling alleys won the right to reopen in court, but a ruling by the N.C. Supreme Court undid their victory. Their ability to reopen lasted less than a week.
“We’ve had the rug pulled out from under us a few times, and that cost it money,” Carmichael said. “We’d get ready, and stay shut down. That yo-yo of reopening costs money. It’s been pretty devastating, and doubly bad for us.”
Cooper will not reopen bars. After 167 days of lockdowns, bars owners say their businesses won’t survive.
“We know that some businesses are still closed and people are hurting,” Cooper said.
The damage to the economy could last two to three years. For businesses targeted with restrictions for health risks, up to 40% of businesses won’t survive, says Michael Walden, N.C. State University economist and member of the governor’s N.C. Economic Recovery Group.
“My guess is that a lot of gyms will reopen if they’ve been able to keep afloat over the last six months,” Walden told CJ. “But they may not be able to survive, because the revenue just isn’t there. And a lot of people may not go back.”
The economy won’t be the same as before the coronavirus, Walden said. He predicts that one in 10 businesses won’t make it through the economic downturn. Workers will also face faster automation.
“The virus is ruling the economy,” Walden said. “We’ve had to sacrifice the economy with shutdowns in order to save people. We’re still looking at that trade-off. We’re not going to get the economy and health back on the same track until we get a vaccine.”
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