Statement on Coronavirus/COVID-19

The Randolph County Tourism Development Authority continues to monitor the constantly-evolving Coronavirus/COVID-19 situation including implementing a Coronavirus Pandemic Plan on March 16, 2020, in an effort to protect our employees and visitors - see Pandemic Plan HERE - and Pandemic Plan Public Notice HERE. 

Our teams at the Heart of NC Visitors Bureau and the I-73/74 Visitor Centers in Seagrove are committed to providing safe and clean service for our visitors by maintaining a CountOnMeNC.org certification for each employee.

As directives come from NC Governor Cooper's office please refer to this link: https://www.nc.gov/covid-19/staying-ahead-curve for the most up-to-date Executive Orders being implemented at our facilities.

Effective immediately, all capacity restrictions and social distancing requirements are lifted for restaurants, bars, and meeting spaces in hotels. Gov. Cooper announced today that he is lifting Executive Order 209 ahead of schedule, which kept current capacity restrictions in place through the month of May. Gov. Cooper also lifted the mask mandate, based on the latest CDC guidance which states that fully vaccinated adults can safely resume activities indoors or outdoors without masks or distancing, in gatherings large or small. NCDHHS will be issuing new guidelines in the upcoming week that outline safety recommendations moving forward.

Executive Order 210 remains in place until June 1, 2021, which extends the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Commission’s authorization to permit the delivery or carry-out of mixed beverages as an alternative to onsite consumption.

You can read Frequently Asked Questions via these links.

For local area event cancellations and updates for the Heart of North Carolina, click HERE.  

To see the latest report on Global Cases of Coronavirus by the Center for Systems & Engineering at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, click HERE.

Hospitality and Tourism Resources:

North Carolina Travel and Tourism | Visit North Carolina

• Wit Tuttell, VP, Tourism and Marketing for the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and Executive Director of Visit NC has been sending out almost daily briefings on COVID-19 to NC tourism partners and stakeholders for more than a week. If you would like to receive these updates, you can email Kathy Prickett at [email protected] You can sign up for the weekly tourism email HERE.
• North Carolina Tourism is urging residents and visitors to be prepared to take precautions relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19). The state recommends that everyone monitor the NC Department of Health and Human Services' special webpage on the situation. Events across the state have canceled or postponed as a best practice effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Visitors and travelers in and through the state should check with their lodging provider and event organizer before departing on a trip to North Carolina. Visitors to the state should take the same precautions that are recommended for traveling during the flu season. Those precautions are even more valuable this year. Visitors who are at "high risk" of severe illness from COVID-19 should avoid groups of people as much as possible. If travelers need more information on North Carolina relating to COVID-19, click HERE. 

North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association

• Lynn Minges, President, and CEO of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association have been updating members regularly. The organization has provided this website with resources for those actively working to manage employee and guest wellness. This is not behind a paywall. Kudos to this group for making information from national and statewide experts available to all hospitality businesses.

The Centers for Disease Control offers this website for the general public, employers, schools, and organizations - click HERE.

To review the current CDC recommendations on travel, click HERE.

Is the coronavirus deadlier than the flu? Yes.

• On March 11, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci said: "the coronavirus is 10 times deadlier than the flu." You can watch the clip here on the CDC YouTube Channel.
• March 10, 2020, Wall Street Journal article goes into greater depth on how the two viruses compare. Both flu and coronavirus come from viruses. They are different, and there's currently no vaccination for the coronavirus.

Tips for Self-Care in Times of Stress

• Once you digest all this and start thinking through the consequences, managing emotions and stress is essential. you may find some of these articles helpful.
• Self-Care: 12 Ways to Take Better Care of Yourself from Psychology Today
• Coping with coronavirus anxiety from Harvard Medical School
• The Five Stages of Grief This may seem like an odd entry, but with the cancellation of events, sports, and "life as normal," many of us are processing loss. This site may prove helpful.
• If you start to have feelings of despair or depression, please reach out to a friend or loved one and follow these tips.

Randolph County Public Health has an online information link that has a great deal of information regarding this virus outbreak and what steps are being taken to protect citizens of and visitors to Randolph County. Please note that this page also includes “Stop the Spread of Germs of COVID-19” in both English and Spanish. To view their page, click HERE.

Best regards,

Randolph County Tourism Development Authority

The Randolph County Tourism Development Authority operates the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau representing Archdale, Asheboro, Franklinville, Liberty, Ramseur, Randleman, Seagrove, Staley, and Trinity; and the I-73/74 Visitor Centers.