COVID vaccines are working. It's time to go back to normal in North Carolina

Gov. Roy Cooper is finally doing the right thing on COVID

Gov. Roy Cooper has misstepped time and again during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He rushed to shut down businesses without planning for how to handle the wave of unemployed people that would create. He seized unilateral executive power with no plans for ceding it. He kept playgrounds, gyms, bowling alleys, and movie theaters shut down for months longer than other states, long after evidence showed they could be open safely. He kept schools shuttered far longer than necessary. He stoked fear and panic when the state needed hope.

But this time, he’s actually doing the right thing.

As Democrat governors and mayors across the country rush to re-implement mask mandates and consider lockdowns, Cooper allowed North Carolina’s mask mandate to lapse this past Friday. And in the face of a media desperate for more mandates and lockdowns, the governor stood his ground.

“You just pointed to a skyrocketing of cases and hospitalizations. You’ve repeatedly said you’re making data driven decisions. At a time w…