NC Governor Lifts COVID-19 Restrictions

All mandatory gathering. social distancing requirements & capacity limits were lifted "effective immediately", announced North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper Friday. The mask mandate in North Carolina was also lifted but with a few exceptions.

"That means in most settings indoors or outdoors the state will no longer require you to wear a mask or be socially distant," Cooper said during a news conference Friday afternoon. The move by state officials comes as they continue to reach a goal of two-thirds of adults receive at least one shot of the COVID-19 Vaccine.

On Thursday the Centers for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its Coronavirus Guidance. The CDC announced that "that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, or local law".

"Thanks to the good news from the CDC yesterday, safety measures like masks and social distancing will no longer be required by executive order in most settings." said DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen. 

Masks will continue to be required in the following settings for all people whether vaccinated or not vaccinated including:

• Public Transportation
• Healthcare Settings (Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Doctors Offices
• Schools
• Day Care Centers
• Camps
• Homeless Shelters
• Correctional Facilities.

With the exception of the settings above DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said "People who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask or practice social distaining, although they may choose to do so." "They also don't have to quarantine or get tested if they are exposed to COVID-19, unless they have symptoms. Unvaccinated people will still need to do these things."

Governor Cooper said "Cities, local governments and businesses can still require masks". Cooper says he expects local and city governments to follow what NC is doing as a state. "This is not the end of this pandemic. In fact, we've got a lot more people we've got to get vaccinated before we get to the end of this," Cooper said.