Skip to main content

Holly Springs Chatter

Wake County Extends Stay-At-Home Order To Protect Residents From COVID-19

To continue efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community, Wake County Board of Commissioners Chairman Greg Ford signed a new proclamation, extending the stay-at-home order through April 30.

“While we’re making good progress to flatten the COVID-19 curve in our community, we haven’t hit our peak caseload yet, so it’s too early to lift our stay-at-home restrictions,” said Chairman Greg Ford. “However, we understand how challenging this is – particularly for businesses – which is why this extension includes provisions to help the local economy while enabling us to save lives.”

Under the updated order, all retail businesses in the county, its 12 municipalities (Apex; Cary; Fuquay-Varina; Garner; Holly Springs; Knightdale; Morrisville; Raleigh; Rolesville; Wake Forest; Wendell; and Zebulon), and portions of Angier, Clayton and Durham located within Wake County, are allowed to operate if they provide delivery or curbside pickup options for customers.

It also requires businesses designated as “essential” to comply with North Carolina Executive Order 131. The state order, which was signed on April 9, sets requirements for maximum occupancy, social distancing measures and cleaning protocols for retailers.

The proclamation also reiterates the need for employers to conduct basic health screenings – including temperature checks, documenting changes in coughs or sore throats, and asking about shortness of breath – and sending workers home if they are ill.

In addition, the proclamation enables faith organizations to hold drive-in services.

“We know that in challenging times, religious and spiritual support is one way that people find strength and comfort,” said Ford. “While these services are accessible online, we have extended the ability to allow drive-in services if churches and places of worship are able to follow certain social-distancing parameters.”

The full proclamation can be found here.

Seeing Results
Data show that social distancing and other mitigation efforts implemented under the county’s March 26 stay-at-home order are helping to slow the spread of the virus. Between March 17 and April 8, the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases has gone from about 3.5 days to about 8 days.

While this is encouraging, projections show that residents must continue practicing stay-at-home measures to further flatten the COVID-19 curve and avoid overwhelming our local healthcare system.

Wake County leadership monitors and reassesses the situation on a daily basis to ensure the health and safety of our community while also considering the long-term impacts of extended stay-at-home orders. The county is paying close attention to projections and lessons learned from other communities, nationally and globally, to make informed decisions on when and how restrictions may be lifted without compromising the health of our community. 

Staying Updated
Wake County has made it easy for you to stay updated on the latest information about COVID-19.

You can visit our COVID-19 webpage, which has a set of frequently asked questions to educate residents in English and in Spanish, a list of COVID-19-related closures and service changes, as well as an email address and phone number that people can use to ask personal health-related questions about COVID-19.

The webpage also includes a “Help for Residents” area, which provides information about how to access a number of services, such as food and nutrition services, Medicaid, Work First benefits and more. For additional information, follow Wake County on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.