Mayor Steve Schewel says the city of Durham and Durham County will extend their combined stay-at-home order past Friday’s scheduled expiration date to help further slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Schewel said he and Wendy Jacobs, the chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, plan to make a formal announcement in a day or two.

The two local governments have a stricter order than the statewide order imposed by Gov. Roy Cooper, who has begun a phased reopening of the state.

“I think I can say with safety that we will be simplifying our order,” Schewel said during a joint meeting of the city and county on Tuesday morning. “We will be adopting the governor’s order, and we will be adding our own restrictions that we think are important.”

For example, the extended Durham order will keep the local requirement for face masks when there isn’t social distancing.

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