Corona Chaos: Wake County Lockdown Order Effective 5PM Friday

RALEIGH – Having already given orders for many businesses to close earlier this week, the Wake County government moved toward complete lockdown with a ‘stay-at-home’ order that prohibits citizens from going anywhere, unless it is for an approved essential need.

The order goes into effect at 5:00 PM, Friday, March 27, at which point you can be charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor for being out in public to for a non-exempt reason.

From the Wake County Order:

“I hereby delegate to the Wake County Manager, and/or his designee, all power and authority granted to me and required of me by Chapter 166A and Article 36A of Chapter 14 of the North Carolina General Statutes, and by Title VII, Chapter 70 of the Wake County Code of Ordinances, for the purpose of implementing the referenced Emergency Operations Plan, and to take such further action as is necessary to promote and secure the safety and protection of those dwelling in the County.

I hereby impose the following restrictions and prohibitions for the welfare and safety of the residents of Wake County, including, by the request and consent of their
respective Mayors, the residents of the City of Raleigh, the Towns of Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell and Zebulon, within the corporate limits of those municipalities, as well as within the corporate limits of the Towns of Angier and Clayton and the City of Durham, that lie within the borders of Wake County:

1. Movement or travel of persons in Wake County on and about public places
including streets, roadways, and property shall be restricted except for the
purposes of Essential Activities. This shall mean that each Wake County resident remains in his/her/their household or residential living unit except as required or permitted for Essential Activities. For the purpose of this Proclamation, Essential Activities shall mean those activities or tasks essential to the support, health, safety and welfare of Wake County residents […]”

Feel like you’re living in a dystopian novel, yet? Wake County has over 100 cases of the Wuhan Virus. That doesn’t mean 100 people in the hospital, or knocking on death’s door; merely that more than 100 people have tested positive and presumably have some symptoms ranging from moderate to severe.

With a population like Wake County, and the spike in all sorts of commercial activity immediately preceding the expected lockdowns and shortages, who knows how (counter)productive this order will ultimately be.

Read the rest of the county’s call for staying at home ‘or else’ here.