EC North Carolina News

With almost 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases, some Lenoir County business owners are questioning why they have to remain closed during the pandemic. 

Gov. Roy Cooper's stay-at-home order gained renewed scrutiny in mid-April after a state Sen. Carl Ford (R-Rowan) posted to his Facebook page "Governor Cooper is contemplating extending the shutdown until June. What do you think?" 

According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, there are 90 positive cases in Lenoir and four deaths as of May 5.

Tonya Adams, Owner of The Beauty Box, told Neuse News for its April 14 report that the shutdown will impact her ability to pay the mortgage the downtown building in Kinston.

“I haven’t made a dime since the shut down of non-essential businesses,” Adams told Neuse News. “I can’t do drive-through service. I can’t do anything.”  

Wayne Adams objected to any efforts to extend the stay-at-home order. Neuse News reported that Adams posted to his Facebook page that "This is about people's livelihoods. I'm sure our restaurants and salons would have been more than happy to rearrange their dining rooms to comply with social distancing." 

Craig Hill, executive director of Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, told Neuse News, "I see the discrepancies between big box stores and small businesses, it’s hard to apply a sense of reason to some of it. When people are piled up at grocery stores"

Pam Brown, the director Lenoir County Health Department, told Neuse News, in theory, businesses could adhere to social distancing guidelines, take customer's temperatures at the door, or limit the number of people allowed inside at a time to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

However, even with implementing those strategies, there will still a risk of spreading the virus. 

"These are great strategies, however, [the] risk would still exist depending on other factors, such as the size and spacing of the business," Brown told Neuse News. "For example, would people be in close proximity to one another for more than 10 minutes, or sitting in a restaurant with 6 feet between tables?"

Hill told Neuse News, the Chamber is sending out information about COVID-19 financial relief programs and they've let local businesses know they will share any COVID-19 business model-related changes with the public.

“We are trying to have a delicate balance between community health and economic prosperity, it’s an impossible task that we’re all in," Hill told Neuse News. "You can protect the public health and gradually open businesses back up.”