Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Following Orange County' s stay - at - home order going into effect on March 27 , Gov. <br /> Roy Cooper issued a state order that became effective on March 30 . The order <br /> mandated that all North Carolinians stay home except for essential travel until April <br /> 29 and limited gatherings to 10 people . <br /> Kristin Prelipp , the communications manager for Orange County's Health <br /> Department , wrote in an email that ignorance of the social distancing mandated by <br /> this order would increase COVID - 19 cases . <br /> " The number of COVID - 19 infections depends on how we all behave , " Prclipp said . <br /> " In the case of this virus , if people stay at home , only leaving the house to carefully <br /> conduct essential business , the number of infected community members will go <br /> down . " <br /> Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said his own department has focused on <br /> educating, not punishing, residents who they find may be in violation of the order . <br /> Blue said upon checking on the residence of a suspected violation , an officer may <br /> deliver an informational flier about the importance of the order without making any <br /> arrests . <br /> " Our position has not been to go out and take enforcement action unless we <br /> absolutely have to , but instead to remind folks of the order and what it means , what' s <br /> permissible and what' s not , " Blue said . <br /> Although there have been at least two incident reports filed where people broke the <br /> stay- at - home order , the Chapel Hill Police Department has yet to charge anyone in <br /> relation to breaking the order . <br /> Blue said responding to complaints by concerned neighbors and observing violations <br /> were both common ways for officers to find violations . He said officers may monitor <br /> certain areas or businesses where violations of the order have been observed to <br /> ensure that no further enforcement actions must be taken . <br /> "We've had a number of people calling on their neighbor , calling on neighborhood <br /> kids , but we have not charged anybody, " Blue said . <br /> Blue said to his knowledge , there have been no repeat calls for the same violators in <br /> Chapel Hill . Although he said the department has thus far been warning first - term <br /> violators instead of seeking charges , any violation may be charged as a class two <br /> misdemeanor . <br />