Coronavirus cases rapidly rising, and NC has its first ‘community transmission’
North Carolina has 136 known cases of the novel coronavirus across 27 counties as of Thursday afternoon, and Gov. Roy Cooper announced the state’s first case of “community transmission” of the virus.
“This is expected but still an unfortunate benchmark in this pandemic,” Cooper said during an afternoon briefing, in which he said Wilson County has a case of community transmission.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.” Until now, health officials have said all cases in North Carolina were the result of travel to places where there had been COVID-19 outbreaks, or through contact with others known to have the virus.
Wake County had 25 known cases of the illness just before 6 p.m. Thursday.
Wake County health officials said Thursday one person who has tested positive for viral infection attended a concert in the PNC Arena on March 13 with symptoms of illness, The News & Observer reported. The person had a seat on the floor but moved around for the nearly four hours they were there, making it nearly impossible to say who might have been exposed to the virus.
“If you went to the show and spent time on the floor, you may be at risk of exposure,” Wake County Medical Director Dr. Kim McDonald said in a news release.
On Thursday, 16 new cases were announced in Mecklenburg and eight in Durham. New cases also were announced in Forsyth, Guilford, Wilson, Cumberland and Moore and Union counties. Davidson, Pitt, Pasquotank and Chowan counties announced their first cases.
Nearly mirroring national trends, North Carolina saw a 39% increase in the number of known cases from end-of-day Tuesday to end-of-day Wednesday. Nationally, more than 10,000 people have been infected and the illness has been found in every state, plus the U.S. capital and three territories, according to a New York Times database.
North Carolina has taken measures to try to control the spread to prevent a sudden spike in severe cases that could overwhelm hospitals’ capabilities to care for patients. So far, health officials say, most patients have been able to recuperate at home.
Hospitals are making preparations in case they see an influx of severe cases; Raleigh’s UNC Rex expects to be able to accept patients on Monday, if needed, in what it’s calling the Special Respiratory Isolation Unit, or SRIU. There, it will be able to treat 16 coronavirus patients in eight rooms with ventilators and other specialized equipment, The News & Observer has reported.
As the number of cases blooms, expectations of the duration of the pandemic appear to be shifting from a couple of weeks to a couple of months or more.
On Thursday, Cooper said the public should prepare for public schools to remain closed past the end of March, though he couldn’t say for how long.
“We’re going to be out of schools for a while,” Cooper said. “ The order was until March 30th but I think people know that with community spread now coming and this crisis increasing that we will likely be out of school for a longer period of time.”
Duke University has postponed its commencement, originally set for May 10, and UNC Wilmington has said it’s considering doing the same for ceremonies it had planned for the same weekend.
Fayetteville Technical Community College, one of 58 community colleges in the state, announced Thursday it had canceled May commencement and will include those graduates in the ceremony in December.
“While we hope the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will be improving by May 15, the date we had set for graduation, the current situation is far too serious for us to count on this,” J. Larry Keen, college president, said in a statement released by the school.
Organizers of some events scheduled as far out as June are canceling or postponing, out of uncertainty about the risks of gathering then or because planning committees won’t be able to meet and can’t be sure facilities will be available.
With students out of class until at least the end of March, school systems and community groups have begun delivering food to make sure children don’t go hungry.
Zalman Raffael, artistic director and CEO of the Carolina Ballet, doesn’t know when his dancers will be able to come back to work. The company suspended performances last week of its show, “A celebration of Female Choreographers Featuring Bolero,” and sent everyone home with pay.
He then launched a fundraiser to make sure he can continue to support the company if shows — and ticket sales — can’t resume for a while.
“What’s important for an organization like this is to be able to come back,” Raffael said in a phone interview with The News & Observer.
During their hiatus, the company will post videos of previous performances and some past rehearsals, he said. Dance school students will also be able to get online instruction, he said.
The state and federal governments are working on safety nets for small businesses, whose owners can apply for low-interest loans, and employees, who can apply for unemployment, as stores, restaurants and bars close or reduce hours. Cooper authorized the loosening of restrictions on who can apply for unemployment benefits in the state.
Since Cooper announced early Tuesday that he was planning to order bars and restaurants to close — a ban that went into effect later that day — nearly 18,000 North Carolinians have filed for unemployment.
That’s several thousand more people than filed for unemployment for the whole month of February.
A coalition of North Carolina advocacy groups Thursday urged the governor and state lawmakers to address the needs of poor and marginalized people who may be disproportionately affected by the effects of the pandemic. In a virtual press conference Thursday, the group called for the expansion of Medicaid, the release of people incarcerated for non-violent crimes; and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures through the end of the year. The group also wants a guarantee of 14 days’ paid sick leave and three months’ family medical leave for all workers; the extension of unemployment benefits to 26 weeks; and the conversion of public schools to distribution sites for free food.
The coalition, calling itself NC United for Survival & Beyond, also asked the N.C. Department of Public Safety to stop notifying ICE agents of immigrants’ probation appointments and requested that people in ICE custody be guaranteed that anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus will be quarantined.
Also Thursday, the U.S. State Department issued a “Do Not Travel” advisory, saying Americans should not leave the country and if they already are out of the country, they should return immediately if possible, or plan to stay away indefinitely. Those already overseas should avoid additional international travel, the state department said.
Staff writers T. Keung Hui, Adam Wagner, Will Doran, Dawn Vaughan and David Raynor contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 11:09 AM.
