WEAVERVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

REGGIE TIDWELL and his children Veyda and Bailey at home on Sunday, March 29th. Veyda’s twin sister, Langley, has leukemia. “Since our daughter’s leukemia diagnosis in October of last year, home has been a necessary refuge for our family,” Tidwell says. “Now, because of the virus and the impact it could have on her, it has never been more important for us to be here.” The day this photo was taken, North Carolina registered more than 1,100 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Two people in the state died from the virus that day, bringing the total death count to seven. Some counties, including the one where the Tidwells live, had already ordered their residents to shelter in place, but a mandatory stay-at-home order would not go into effect statewide until 5 p.m. the following day. “Even though the parks had been shut down, people had taken down the caution tape and were just hanging out anyway,” says photographer Mike Belleme, who had barely left his own home in two weeks when he ventured out to take pictures for this assignment. “I expected it to be more empty and deserted. It was a little alarming, seeing people looking, for the most part, like they’re just going about life.”