NC's Gov. Cooper Eyes Lifting COVID-19 Mandates By June 1

NORTH CAROLINA — Statewide COVID-19 mandates, such as capacity and mass gathering limits, will likely be lifted in North Carolina as of June 1, Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday. The announcement comes as state public health officials set an urgent call for at least a partial vaccination of at least two-thirds of adults in the state as soon as possible.

As of Wednesday, more than half of adults eligible for a vaccine in the state still had no vaccine protection against COVID-19, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

"With increasing vaccinations and ongoing work to slow the spread, I anticipate we'll be able to lift all mandatory social distancing, capacity and mass gathering restrictions by June 1. I plan to issue an Executive Order next week outlining safety restrictions for the month of May," Cooper said at a news conference.

State residents shouldn't expect to be able to toss face masks anytime soon, though.

The state will have a mask mandate through at least May, the details of which will be announced next week, Cooper said.

"After June 1, we hope that that mask mandate would only be required for people in public places indoors," he said, adding that decisions on lifting mask requirements are pegged to increases in vaccination rates.

"With at least two-thirds of adults vaccinated, our public health experts believe we will have enough protection across our communities to be able to live more safely with this virus and begin to put this pandemic behind us," Cooper said.

As of April 21, at least 47 percent of adults 18 years old and older in the state had received at least one dose of vaccine, according to DHHS data.

Even with lifting statewide mandates in June, masks will still be recommended, as will be some protocols in specific settings, DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said.

"Children under 16 are not currently able to get vaccinated, so there will be ongoing safety recommendations for places like camps and summer school to protect our children against COVID-19," Cohen said.

Safety recommendations will also be in place for high-risk settings, like indoor arenas.

Once the state reaches a milestone of at least two-thirds of adults partially vaccinated, however, mask mandates would likely be lifted, she said.

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