NORTH CAROLINA, USA — Governor Roy Cooper said our state is still in the middle of it's battle with COVID-19. He spoke with WFMY News 2's Maddie Gardner one-on-one this week about where we've been and where we are going.
First, he says he wishes he would have gotten more guidance from the federal government early on in the pandemic but feels more confident in the new administration.
"I was in the middle of this with the Trump administration and I will commend them for Operation Warp Speed and getting vaccines manufactured as quickly as we have," Governor Cooper. "For the most part the states were on their own."
Governor Cooper said Biden's team is listening to governors and giving federal help through FEMA. They're also making sure states have PPE and are helping give them a heads up when it comes to knowing how many vaccines North Carolina will get for a certain period of time.
"Maybe most importantly, we didn’t have a persistent message, we don’t have administration health officials saying one thing and elected political leaders doing another," Governor Cooper said. "We have the president wearing a mask and his following health advice and parroting that with what health officials are saying. They’ve been consistent with the CDC director and the coronavirus task force that’s been so important.
When it comes to North Carolina's roll out of the vaccine, Governor Cooper is pleased with the plan and execution so far.
"I think we’ve done a fantastic job, in fact every week that the state of North Carolina gets vaccines they have all of the vaccines in arms, all of the first doses in arms, before the next shipment comes. So that’s positive," he said.
Now Governor Cooper wants to focus on distributing vaccines in an equitable way. He said North Carolina is one of the few states that is looking at the demographics of who is getting the shot.
One of the biggest decisions the governor has had to make is whether to send kids back to school. Over the summer he announced that the state would move forward with Plan B - or reduced capacity of in-person learning or remote learning depending on the district. Recently, the governor said he wants all students back in the classroom.
"We have learned more about this virus as time has passed," he said. "There have been a lot of studies about how this virus is transmitted and where it’s transmitted. There’s a recent study done right here in North Carolina showing that particularly our elementary students, K through six, are not hotspots and were not places that were transmitting this virus."
As for moving out of Phase 3 of his modified Stay At Home Order - that places restrictions on capacity and includes a curfew - the governor said he'll look at the data before making the decision to move forward. He said he understands what certain businesses are going through.
"I know that the hospitality and restaurants, bars have been hit very hard by this," Governor Cooper said. "I’ve been fighting for resources for these businesses. I think that they should be getting direct loans and grants. We have been fighting for that money. I set forth legislation waving ABC permit fees for these facilities because we know that they are hurting,"
As far as what he is looking forward to once the pandemic is over and it's safe to do so, the Governor is ready to be in crowds again.
"I look forward to going back to church and sitting in the pews. I’ve been going to church every Sunday, I’ve been going to remote services," he said. "I look forward to going to ball games, a hockey game, concerts, plays, things like that where people gather. I look forward to being able to do that again as I know North Carolinians are and I believe if we work hard enough and get to the end of this thing we can do those things again."