Governor Roy Cooper announced at a press conference today that Covid-19 restrictions would lessen, starting Friday, April 30. Masks are no longer required outdoors, and mass gathering limits now are increased to 100 people indoors.

The mask requirement indoors in public settings remains. Social distancing and capacity limits remain. Cooper reiterated that he hopes the state will be able to lift capacity limits and indoor mask mandates by June 1, and urged North Carolinians to get vaccinated. The current executive order expires on May 31, and Cooper anticipates the indoor capacity limits being lifted at that time, though the indoor mask mandate would likely remain longer.

“While our numbers remain stable, we’re not seeing the decline in metrics that we’d like to see,” Cooper said at the media briefing. “This tells us that the pandemic is not over. But we do have the power to put it behind us if we do what works: wearing our mask when we’re supposed to, keeping our distance when we’re supposed to, and getting vaccinated.”

The current restrictions were set to expire on April 30. To-go cocktails have also been extended through May in a separate executive order.

At this time, 48.7 percent of North Carolinians are partially vaccinated. Once two-thirds of adults are partially vaccinated, the mask mandate will be lifted indoors, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen shared. Find a vaccine site here.

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