Winston-Salem Mayor Extends Stay-At-Home Order

The city of Winston-Salem is extending stay-at-home orders for three additional weeks. Mayor Allen Joines made the announcement as the current orders were set to expire.

There were just over 120 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than half of them already resolved, according to the latest county report. Mayor Joines credits the comparatively low numbers to social distancing measures, and thanked the community — citizens and businesses — for adhering to the current stay-at-home order. But he says in light of recent estimates by researchers at Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill, lifting the order now would be premature.  

"One of those projections assumed that we began lifting restrictions at the end of April," says Joines. "If that were to happen in their opinion, we could have a 50 percent chance that we would overwhelm the medical systems here in the state and in Forsyth County."

With restrictions extended to May 7th, that number drops to 20 percent. Another reason to stay the course is that nearly half of the cases reported are in persons under 45 years of age. That's of particular concern as young adults may show few or no symptoms but spread the virus to those at highest risk.  

Joines also announced that beginning Wednesday, bus riders in Winston-Salem will be able to ride for free. One reason for the shift is to protect drivers from direct interactions with passengers — exchanging money and tickets — who may be carrying coronavirus. Funding for the new measure comes from the Federal Transit Authority.

Deputy Utilities Director Damon Dequenne says other social distancing measures are already in place.

"We're installing plexiglass shields to provide a barrier between the driver and the passengers, providing cloth masks for the drivers," says Dequenne. "When we went initially to the Saturday service — Monday through Saturday — that allowed us to be able to sanitize each bus between trips and gave us a reserve of drivers."

Dequenne says beginning Wednesday they will limit ridership to 15 passengers per bus to allow for social distancing. Additional drivers, busses, sanitizing and cleaning crews have been contracted to accommodate what is expected to be increased ridership during this period.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.