(Bloomberg) -- North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is insisting that the Republican convention in August be scaled back out of concern about the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter responding to Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and committee president Marcia Lee Kelly, Cooper said his state could not agree to their demands for a “‘full convention’ which includes 19,000 delegates,” as well as “full hotels and restaurants and bars at capacity.”

“As much as we want the conditions surrounding COVID-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely,” Cooper wrote. “Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek.”

Cooper said holding a “scaled-down convention” with fewer participants than the RNC requested, with social distancing measures and face coverings is “a necessity.” He added the state would gladly continue talks to hold a convention with such measures.

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