"I would rather wait a couple days and be right than do it wrong," Plyler said, adding that he is likely to follow the advice of the county attorney on what the county can do. "We have been doing this — how many months? If we were in imminent danger where it was life or death in the next four days ... we need to intelligently react."

However, the hospital officials are saying that in some of the nation's most populated areas, officials may have put in place stay-at-home orders too late to significantly stop the spread of COVID-19.

"Each hour that passes, more and more residents are coming into contact with others, and the virus continues to spread rapidly," they said. "Forsyth County has a chance to curb the spread of COVID-19 by taking action now."

Commissioner Don Martin called the proposal "a tough issue."

"The question becomes, what action do you take?" Martin said. "If people are going to the grocery store, they are still going out. You want to minimize the risk. I have read the Clemmons order. It is a strong statement of discouraging, not prohibiting."

Joines said hospital officials told him that they're worried about getting overwhelmed.