North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday the organizers of the Republican National Convention have not submitted plans to his administration about how it would operate the convention in the state during the pandemic.
The convention is scheduled for Aug. 24-27 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
"We're ready to hold the RNC convention in North Carolina in a safe way," Cooper, a Democrat, said in a press briefing Thursday.
He said health experts from his office have been talking with organizers for months about how to have it in a safe way.
On Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to move the convention from Charlotte unless Republicans are "immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied." The next day, Trump said he needed "a fast decision from the governor."
"He's been acting very, very slowly and very suspiciously, but we'll find out. We're talking about a very short period of time," Trump told reporters. "I would say within a week that certainly we have to know."
In the weeks before NASCAR hosted its May 24th Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the organization submitted plans to the state, Cooper said. Health experts gave feedback and NASCAR incorporated changes in its successful race weekend, he said. Cooper said similar conversations are underway with the NBA's Charlotte Hornets and the NFL's Carolina Panthers.
He said convention organizers have not submitted a plan.
"We're not on any timeline here. We want to work with them. We look forward to them submitting plans to us," he said. "We have yet to see them."
While organizations are making plans to hold events in the state, the number of statewide coronavirus-related hospitalizations reached an all-time high Thursday for the second day in a row.
Cooper said he was concerned with the increase across the state, adding that health officials would keep an eye on them as the state continues with Phase Two of his reopening plan.
He said hospitals are prepared, however, if there is a surge in COVID-19 cases.
"This is why we are in Phase Two right now and not reopening everything up," Cooper said Thursday. "This is why we think we need to stay in Phase Two for a while, to see how these numbers go."
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state's Department of Health and Human Services, said the same in the press briefing.
"Our work is to keep the viral spread low and keep that curve flat so we don't overwhelm our health care systems," she said.
In regards to a slight increase in the percentage of positive cases, both Cohen and Cooper said that can be attributed to a number of possible factors. Regardless, the numbers remain stable around 8%, they said.
"Each of these data points all have limitations," Cohen said. "It's why we need to look at these metrics in combinations with each other."
