GASTONIA, N.C. — Gaston County leaders addressed several COVID-19 topics in a virtual town hall viewed by hundreds on Facebook Live late-Thursday morning.
One topic discussed at length was Gaston County Board of Commissioners Chair Tracy Philbeck's letter to Governor Roy Cooper asking for the statewide stay-at-home order to lapse on April 29.
Commissioner Philbeck wants local counties to have the power to make decisions on social distancing.
During the town hall, he said shutting down businesses for a long period isn't sustainable, and he said many families are struggling with their finances.
He argued the federal and state governments have made the problem worse by slowly distributing unemployment benefits.
"If it continues to show that Gaston County is flattening the curve," Commissioner Philbeck said. "We've got to put people back to work."
If the state gives power to the counties, he hopes businesses could slowly reopen in May, but he emphasized the decision would be based solely on local data.
"My hope is we can get people back to work in a safe manner," he said. "At the same time, protect the health of our citizens."
Governor Cooper indicated the possibility of easing restrictions, but he wants to see more testing, better tracing and overall COVID-19 trends dropping.
Gaston County commissioners argued they can track trends at the local level better than the state.
During the town hall, Dr. Tia Robertson, the county's medical director, said there is a higher penetration of COVID-19 in the African American community compared to other races.
She said the county's working with community leaders to address those numbers, particularly in Gastonia's Highland community.
"To develop more testing, if needed, and also to offer other resources to improve the general health of the African American community," Dr. Robertson said.
Gaston County Schools' Superintendent Jeffrey Booker said starting next week, the school system will distribute meals four days a week with two meals provided on Thursday.
He said the governor has indicated he wanted to reopen schools before summer, but there has been no update on if, or when, that could happen.
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