Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on April 17
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We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date news about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 6,000
North Carolina has at least 6,010 reported cases of the coronavirus as of Friday evening, and 170 people have died, according to state and county health departments.
The state health department reported 394 new cases on Friday, the second-highest jump since the outbreak began.
At least 429 North Carolinians were hospitalized with COVID-19 Friday, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s down from Thursday’s all-time high of 452.
Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, has the most reported cases in the state, with 1,136. The county has reported 24 deaths.
Wake County, which includes Raleigh, has 574 reported cases and three deaths.
Cases surge at NC prison
At least 259 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at Neuse Correctional Institution in Eastern North Carolina as of Friday afternoon, state prisons commissioner Todd Ishee said.
That’s more than one-third of the inmates housed there.
There were 19 cases on Tuesday. “The surge in new cases follows the prison system’s decision on Thursday to conduct COVID-19 tests on every inmate at Neuse,” according to the News & Observer.
Remote counties last to see cases
The last seven counties in North Carolina without any confirmed cases of the coronavirus sit in the state’s northeast corner — Camden and Hyde — and along the western border — Avery, Graham, Madison, Swain and Yancey.
Nearly all seven are considered rural communities.
According to Mark Holmes, director of UNC Chapel Hill’s North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, remote areas are typically less densely populated and have fewer places for people to congregate, which “can provide some protection in the early days of a pandemic,” the News & Observer reported.
They also tend to have older and poorer populations with higher rates of uninsured people, meaning the virus “can spread quickly and grow really fast” once a case is confirmed, Holmes told the N&O.
Cooper partners with universities to track virus
Gov. Roy Cooper is partnering with North Carolina’s three medical universities — the University of North Carolina, East Carolina University and Duke University — to amp up testing and tracking of the coronavirus.
The project will enable officials to see how far COVID-19 has spread statewide.
“This research is part of a coordinated statewide effort to learn more about what percentage of people have no symptoms and to better understand the true number of COVID-19 infections in our state,” Cooper said.
UNC System scales back budget
The UNC System is asking for $185 million less in operating expenditures, interim President Bill Roper announced Friday.
It also removed almost all $632 million of capital improvement projects previously approved by the legislature and instead seeks “$45 million in one-time relief to offset new expenses and lost revenue as a result of the pandemic,” The News & Observer reported.
“These revised budget requests will impact our institutions, no doubt about it,” Roper said. “But we understand North Carolina’s near-term revenue will be lean, and we are adjusting accordingly.”
Wake County holds out hope for graduation
Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore said the district hasn’t canceled contracts for venues where some of its high schools planned to host graduation ceremonies in May and June — including the Raleigh Convention Center and N.C. State University’s Reynolds Coliseum.
“We have had discussions about alternatives should those late May, early June dates not work,” Moore said at a news conference Friday. “I really am committed to figuring out a way to provide our seniors with that milestone.”
Essential businesses
Most North Carolina businesses that applied to be considered “essential” under the state’s stay-at-home order got their wishes, The Charlotte Observer reported. About 85% of roughly 4,000 people who sent requests to the N.C. Department of Revenue got approval.
Another 13% were allowed to keep their doors open if they followed social distancing measures, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Gov. Roy Cooper’s order went into effect on March 30 to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Since then, several non-essential businesses have remained closed.
Escaped inmate speaks out
A man who is on the run after escaping the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner is speaking out. Richard R. Cephas said he left the facility two weeks ago due to concerns about the coronavirus, The News & Observer reported.
“I signed up for a jail sentence, not a death sentence,” he told the newspaper.
At the time of his escape, nine inmates and one staffer had the disease. Now, 91 cases and four deaths have been linked to the prison, about 12 miles northeast of Durham.
Coronavirus cases have soared at another facility, the Neuse Correctional Institution. The state on Friday reported 211 inmates tested positive for the virus, up from 29 on Tuesday.
N.C. Department of Public Safety announced Thursday that it would be testing every Neuse inmate for COVID-19. The facility is in Goldsboro, roughly 50 miles southeast of Raleigh.
The peak
Leaders at UNC Hospitals and UNC Rex Healthcare said Thursday they don’t think the coronavirus outbreak has peaked yet in North Carolina, but they’re ready for when it does.
It’s unclear when the peak will be in the state, but the hospitals say they have increased their capacities, “redeployed staff” and stockpiled equipment in preparation.
A model created by the University of Washington says North Carolina is experiencing a peak in COVID-19 cases now. But other models show the peak won’t occur in the state until mid to late May.
Federal help needed, Cooper says
North Carolina isn’t ready to relax restrictions, based on President Donald Trump’s guidelines for reopening states during the coronavirus pandemic.
The guidelines were published by the Washington Post and CBS News on Thursday and detail a three-phase process for reopening, with each phase only possible when a state meets certain criteria.
Gov. Roy Cooper said North Carolina needs federal help before it can reopen.
“Yesterday I laid out what’s required for North Carolina’s path to gradual re-opening, and it’s good the White House has shared similar guidance, but we still need the federal government to help with testing and personal protective equipment,” he told The News & Observer in an email.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 7:09 AM.
