GREENSBORO, N.C. — After another record-setting day of new conronavirus cases, Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted a warning saying he's looking at possible actions to stop the spread of the virus.
Saturday, North Carolina topped 6,000 new cases for the first time.
Health experts said part of this is because of Thanksgiving, but also because people have gotten too relaxed about the coronavirus.
The city of Greensboro has been working hard to attract customers to its local businesses. Even going as far as shutting down roads so folks can safely shop and dine.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said she’s worried this new positive case record will end their attempts to keep the city going.
“I know my fear is we’re looking at closing people who have been closed before.” Vaughan said. “We’re just starting to recover.”
Vaughan said it's going to take mask-wearing, distancing ourselves and washing hands to see case numbers go down.
“People still aren’t doing it. They’re pushing back on it for reasons other than health care reasons,” Vaughan said.
It's putting more lives at stake.
The Department of Health and Human Services shows 2,171 people are in the hospital fighting this virus, as of Saturday.
Molly Matlock manager at Crafted the Art of the Taco said they've dealt with their fair share of folks not willing to follow orders.
“There’s always that 1 in 10 of someone who isn’t happy about it and thinks we’re infringing on their rights but we’re doing what we can to keep our guests and staff safe,” Matlock said.
Vintage to Vogue owner Jennifer Graf said she’s scared, but has to maintain a living.
“Being a business and interacting with people, we’re putting ourselves at risk as well. Constantly,” Graf said. “But we have to do that or we won’t have a roof over our heads.”
Hearing there are 6,018 new cases Graf said it might be best for her to close her doors.
“It's not worth the risk of everyone’s health. We’re basically shut down as small business owners anyway. We’ve never had numbers this low. At this point, it makes no difference,” Graf said. “Now, having said that, I think businesses need help from the government.”
“It’d be a shame to go through another shutdown. But we have to do what we have to do in order to get these numbers to slow down.” Matlock said. “We’ll do to-go if we have to."
Mayor Vaughan said what's just as concerning as a shut down is our health care providers, and making sure they have space to help those who are infected.