NC coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations, nursing home outbreaks continue to climb
Coronavirus cases in North Carolina grew by fewer than 100 Wednesday, marking the first time since late March that the state’s total did not jump by triple digits, while Gov. Roy Cooper addressed what’s needed for the state to begin reopening.
Cooper said in a Wednesday afternoon press conference that the state must make progress in three areas before his stay-at-home order can be eased: testing, tracing and trends.
“Our new normal relies on an increase in testing capabilities to isolate and track new cases of COVID-19,” Cooper said. “This means having the supplies and lab capacity to do more diagnostic testing, as well as reliable antibody testing that can tell us who has had the virus.”
Cooper said partners from public and private sectors will coordinate efforts to make sure testing is widely available across the state.
To make progress in tracing, the state must boost the public health workforce to trace and track cases. The state will use partnerships with universities and hospitals to increase the workforce, Cooper said.
The trends that must move in the right direction before stay-at-home orders can be eased are in the number of positive cases, the number of hospitalizations and the number of deaths.
Cooper reiterated that while the state shut down quickly, it must reopen slowly, and talked about what reopened restaurants and sports and concert venues would look like, such as fewer people at eateries and games and concerts having no fans in attendance.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said Wednesday that while progress has been made, shortages of PPE — personal protective equipment — for healthcare workers have been a “limiting factor” in staying ahead of the curve in testing.
Nursing homes deaths reported, as doubling rate slows
NC DHHS reported 5,123 confirmed COVID-19 cases, up 99 from Tuesday’s total. Of those cases, 431 patients remain hospitalized, rising by 13.
Triple-digit growth has come every day since March 25, when NC cases jumped by 97 cases. Since then, the daily increase has often topped 300, according to data compiled by the The News & Observer from NC DHHS and county health departments.
North Carolina has now seen at least 117 deaths from the pandemic, a total that grew by nine in a day.
Wake County reported its first death on Wednesday, along with 25 new cases, bringing the county total to 537. The death was an 81-year-old Wake resident who died as a result of COVID-19-related complications, according to the county health department.
Rowan County northeast of Charlotte reported four new fatalities Wednesday, and Durham County, which reported 27 new cases Wednesday evening, also reported its second death Tuesday. The Durham County resident was 65 and had underlying health conditions, according to the county’s press release.
The News & Observer is keeping a separate count based on reports from the state and county health departments. This total, now at 5,381 cases and 132 deaths, is usually higher because DHHS updates its numbers once a day.
DHHS also reported 39 outbreaks at nursing homes and residential care facilities, as it did on Tuesday. The epidemic continues to touch nursing homes statewide as Chatham County reported its first such death, an elderly patient who had been in declining health.
The deaths of three nursing home residents in Louisburg and two at a Mount Olive facility were reported on Wednesday.
The outbreak at Mount Olive Center includes 21 positive cases among residents and four more among staff, according to information provided to the News & Observer by Genesis Physician Services, which owns Mount Olive Center.
According to the Franklin County Health Department, the three deaths at Louisburg Nursing Center increases the total number of coronavirus deaths at the facility to five.
Cohen said on Tuesday that as DHHS works to curb the epidemic’s spread, DHHS is keeping an eye on the “doubling rate,” or how quickly the total number of COVID-19 cases grows twice as big.
At this point, state health officials believe the rate is slowing, thanks in part to stay-at-home guidelines in place across the state for more than a week. The coronavirus tally reached 2,000 in North Carolina on April 2 and 4,000 on April 10 — a doubling rate of eight days.
“Our actions right now are critical to slow the spread of this virus,” Cooper said in a tweet. “Being away from friends and family is difficult, but staying home and following social distancing guidelines is saving lives.”
Cases reported among workers at UNC Health, Raleigh PD
UNC Health reported on Wednesday that “a small number” of employees have tested positive for the virus after being exposed.
UNC Health spokesman Alan Wolf said in an email to The News & Observer that, “currently, we have 12 co-workers who have tested positive at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, out of more than 13,000 employees.”
Wolf said UNC has had “an aggressive containment strategy for months, following CDC guidance to ensure they remain in isolation, receive the appropriate treatment and monitoring, and are cleared before they return to work. We also are aggressively testing any staff with a broad range of symptoms so we can do an extensive contact investigation if they are positive. We’ve tested hundreds of workers.”
And Raleigh Police Department confirmed Wednesday that one of its employees has tested positive for the virus. Deputy chief Michael Galloway, in an April 7 memo sent out to the department, said the police officer works in the North District Station.
The memo said the employee last worked March 20-22. It said a professional cleaning of the building was completed April 2 following the department’s notification on March 31.
Meanwhile, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools announced that a staff member involved in “logistical support” of the Meals for Students initiative has tested positive for the coronavirus. The employee was not involved in preparing or handing out food.
Groups providing relief to nonprofits
The Triangle Community Foundation, with the help of its fundholders, made $3.09 million in grants in the month of March to local nonprofits, mainly for COVID-19 relief.
The foundation said 631 grants were made and the $3.09 million total was a 53% increase in funding from the same time a year ago. There was a 157% increase in grants, the foundation said.
The United Way of the Greater Triangle’s Rapid Response Fund plans to distribute $277,400 this week to 26 local nonprofits providing critical resources including food, childcare, rental assistance and more to residents during the COVID-19 crisis.
Devin Desjarlais, director of marketing & storytelling, said Tuesday that during the week-long application period for the first funding round, the United Way of the Greater Triangle received 67 applications with requests totaling more than $1.86 million.
Desjarlais said a total of 125 applications have been received to date with requests totaling about $4 million. The Rapid Response Fund, announced March 16, has raised more than $900,000, Desjarlais said.
Staff writers Steve Wiseman and Chip Alexander contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 11:14 AM.
