The rise of coronavirus cases in North Carolina, and mitigation efforts to slow its spread, are affecting businesses and individuals across the state.
In Carrboro and Chapel Hill, those in the service industry are trying to cope with the drastic slump in business and many people are making changes to protect themselves and others.
鈥淎re you worried about family in China?鈥�
鈥淣ew York. I have family in New York, that鈥檚 bad over there.
They are all safe in China 鈥� China is pretty under control right now.鈥�
For Kevin Wang, the owner of Jade Palace restaurant in Carrboro, his thoughts are no longer focused on his family in China. They are over the worst of it, he explains. Now he is watching New York and the recent rise in reported cases of COVID-19. On March 16, the statewide total for COVID-19 cases in New York had reached more than 950, with confirmed community transmission, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo鈥檚 office and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wang is doing his best to keep his business going and his employees paid, but he is watching the days until he can no longer sustain employee hours.
The pandemic has 鈥渉urt our business a lot,鈥� says Wang. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been slow for the last week, last two weeks already. We try to keep all the employees here,鈥� referencing the employees gathered around a table at the back of the customerless restaurant. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see how it goes in the next two weeks.鈥�
In downtown Carrboro, Cat鈥檚 Cradle concert hall is a backbone of the arts community. A sign on the front door alerts customers of upcoming shows that are cancelled or postponed as part of the effort to enforce social distancing. On March 14, Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order that bans gatherings of more than 100 people.
鈥淎 few people have looked at me like I had a couple heads, and a gentleman earlier straight up refused 鈥� he was not gonna wash his hands.鈥�
Bleach-toting bar lead Emma Flanagan is enforcing strict hygiene rules at Vimala's Curryblossom Caf茅 in Chapel Hill. Customers are directed to wash hands as soon as they enter the restaurant and are not allowed to handle menus or dine inside until they do so. Flanagan says she鈥檚 been argued with over the rule, but most customers understand.
Diana Fuentes, the owner of Salon de Belleza Diana in Chapel Hill, brushes dye along the eyebrows of customer Leticia Lopez. She explains in Spanish that she is 鈥渢rying to be here quite early鈥� to receive more clients and to ensure that clients don鈥檛 come and go without being served.
On March 14, Weaver Street Market, a popular community gathering place and grocery store in Carrboro, was half-empty or half-full depending on your perspective. On March 12, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said "walking through the aisles of a grocery store" is considered low risk, per guidance the department received from the CDC. Cohen also reminded North Carolinians that 鈥渟ocial distancing means staying approximately six feet away鈥� from others when possible.
Standing by his front porch, Kevin Jones says he鈥檚 had little luck finding toilet paper and other essentials at nearby stores. He planned on heading to the Buckhorn Flea Market in Mebane where 鈥渞egular people like us鈥� can buy supplies at prices he didn鈥檛 think would be too marked-up.
Coronavirus-inspired artwork outside of This & That Gift Gallery in Carrboro announces sanitation efforts by employees. Local artist and shop employee John Knox says they are spraying disinfectant on 鈥渕ost surfaces鈥� every hour, with special attention to high-touch surfaces like door handles and the cash area.
Knox also shaped what he calls 鈥渢ouchy sticks鈥� out of polymer clay and chopsticks. The little finger-shaped necklace adorns employees as a reminder to keep fingers away from faces.
鈥淚 think alcohol helps,鈥� says Joe Centeno as he mans the bar at Carrboro Beverage Company on Main Street. He鈥檚 been helping the trickle of clients between rounds of cleaning store surfaces. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all doing our best to deal with this.鈥�
Clinton Hicks waits at a Carrboro bus stop for his ride back home to Durham. His mother is a retired nurse and he explains that it鈥檚 important to stay calm in the face of the virus.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an epidemic, but the thing about it is, I鈥檓 not going to panic. Whatever happens is going to happen,鈥� says Hicks. 鈥淚鈥檓 trusting the medical system, but I鈥檓 trusting the Lord over all.鈥�
