LAURINBURG — The mayor of Laurinburg and Scotland County chairman each signed a proclamation on Tuesday declaring a state of emergency within their respective borders because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
The moves come on the heels of Gov. Roy Cooper banning any gatherings exceeding 100 people, as well as closing all restaurant dining rooms in the state and forcing those businesses to rely only on takeout or drive-thru service.
The two states of emergency took effect at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and are to remain in effect until further notice.
“This just prepares us, allows the county a little bit more flexibility than we normally have,” said County Manager Kevin Patterson during an interview with WLNC radio. “It is purely precautionary — there are no curfews, there are no restrictions that we’re putting in place.
“County buildings will be reducing access,” he added. “Some, such as Scotland Place and Wagram Recreation Center, will not be open to the public; for most such as the courthouse, (people need to) make an appointment … we are just trying to limit the areas people might congregate.”
City offices in Laurinburg have been operating on a drive-thru basis only for customers this week.
“Things are moving so fast,” Mayor Jim Willis said. “(Tuesday) morning we didn’t think a proclamation was necessary, but after consultation with the NC School of Government and the NC League of Municipalities, we determined it was best practice to put the state of emergency in place to position the city for any future aid that may become available to us, our citizens or any of our businesses.”
The town of Gibson took things a step further with a state of emergency proclamation of its own that went into effect at 11 a.m. Wednesday. In it, Mayor James Stubbs initiated the first curfew in the county, requiring town residents to be in their homes between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The Scotland County Emergency Operations Center in Laurinburg hosted a meeting Tuesday afternoon to discuss the coronavirus and set the stage for the city and county to sign the proclamations.
According to Scotland Health Care System Chief Medical Officer Dr. Cheryl Davis, there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the system’s service area of Scotland, Robeson and Marlboro (SC) counties as of Tuesday.
There have been at least 60 confirmed cases of the vfirus in North Carolina. The nearest case is on Ft. Bragg in Cumberland County.
Scotland Health Care System continues to test for coronavirus in its emergency department, urgent care centers and clinics.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or [email protected].
