NC cases and deaths mounting, but at a slower pace. Arguments over reopening intensify.
North Carolina appears to be making gradual progress in slowing the spread of COVID-19, prompting a push-and-pull over whether that means business and institutional closures are working and must be maintained to defeat the virus, or if it’s safe to loosen some restrictions.
Protesters chafing against a three-week old stay-home order took to the streets of Raleigh on Tuesday to demand that Gov. Roy Cooper ease some restrictions on businesses, and Wake County leaders discussed whether the rules on church gatherings could be amended in time for Sunday services.
The N.C. Nurses Association, a professional organization representing the state’s registered nurses, countered with a statement acknowledging the financial pain of the restrictions but saying a staged reopening should be predicated on two weeks’ of falling case numbers, reliable access to testing and protective equipment, and the ability to do contact tracing.
The state is not hitting any of those targets at the moment, the nurses’ group said.
During an online news conference Tuesday, the governor said he has been conferring with school superintendents, the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction about whether it will be possible to reopen public schools before the end of the current school year. Public school buildings are presently ordered closed to students through May 15. The academic year for most students runs through June.
Thirty-four states, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia already have ordered or recommended that schools remain closed for the rest of the academic year, according to Education Week.
Benefits for furloughed workers
Cooper also announced he had signed a new executive order Tuesday allowing a group of furloughed workers to claim unemployment benefits. The order allows furloughed workers who received a severance payment from their employers to receive payments through the unemployment system. Previously, such workers were not eligible for unemployment benefits.
North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday reported that 213 people have died statewide, and 6,951 cases of illness have been confirmed. Tuesday’s case count was an 18.9% increase over Monday’s total.
The day-to-day increase was smaller than the state had seen in recent days. Case totals increased by 353 and 271 over the previous two days.
The smaller growth in the number of cases is a positive sign that North Carolina is making progress in slowing down its case-doubling rate. The rate, 12 days as of Monday, slowed to 13 days as of Tuesday. The doubling rate is one factor state officials are monitoring as they decide when to relax social distancing standards.
Outbreaks at nursing homes
The state now lists 1,003 cases and 70 deaths in nursing homes, as congregate living facilities continue to be a source of widespread outbreaks. Prisons account for 627 cases with five deaths, according to DHHS.
The News & Observer is keeping a separate tally based on reports from the state and county health departments, which is higher than the DHHS count because that one is only updated once daily. As of Tuesday evening, the N&O total was 7,113 cases with 241 deaths.
The governor’s stay-home order, which took effect on March 30 and runs through April 29, combined with orders that have prohibited large, close gatherings and forced the closure of all but “essential” businesses, are credited with helping to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But some of those who turned out for Tuesday’s protest claim the orders are a constitutional overreach and will be ruinous for the state’s economy.
The rally, which drew about 1,000 people at its peak, was larger and more political than a similar protest last week. The protesters want the governor to relax the stay-home order to allow some people to go back to work.
Epidemiologists have cautioned that allowing people to circulate normally too soon could cause cases of illness to spike and possibly exceed hospitals’ capacity to care for the sickest patients.
Several political leaders joined the protest group, including U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina’s Ninth District. Bishop sometimes wore a mask while at the rally and carried a bottle of hand-sanitizer and pocket-sized copies of the Constitution.
“I’m definitely going to deliver this to Roy Cooper because he’s forgotten what it’s about,” Bishop said.
During the protest, a dozen health care workers in scrubs stood outside the state archives building in support of the restrictions. They were loudly jeered by several protesters who accused them of spreading lies.
Possible change in church rules
Some church members and state leaders have argued that churches are being held to stricter rules than businesses and some other organizations. At a virtual meeting of the Wake County Board of Commissioners on Monday, Commissioner Matt Calabria said the county should reexamine the rules on church gatherings, possibly in time for this weekend’s services.
“A lot of our most recent order was a lot of ‘thou shall not’ and not a lot of ‘thou can,’” Calabria said. “I am sure there are lower-hanging fruit options and then options that might require more preparedness or protective equipment.
“My suspicion is there is a safe way to do this, and I want to make sure we give it the college try.”
Forced closures have taken a toll. Between March 15 and Tuesday, more than a quarter of a million North Carolinians had received nearly $579 million in unemployment benefits as a result of COVID-19 job losses, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce. Nearly twice that many people in the state have made claims for benefits, citing COVID-19 as the reason for their job loss, the department’s website shows.
The N.C. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that it would lay off about 300 temporary and contract workers and delay the start of about 88 major construction projects because of lost tax revenues resulting from the pandemic.
The department estimates it will see a $300 million drop in tax revenues in April, May and June compared to what was projected. About half of the department’s state funds come from gas taxes, which have dropped as travel has been curtailed under stay-home orders. The department also has seen a drop in revenue from the highway use tax, which is applied to car sales.
The workers were told that Friday will be their last day. So far, the state said, no permanent NCDOT workers have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, but the department is preparing for possible layoffs or furloughs.
The Raleigh City Council held a special meeting Tuesday and voted to give $1 million to two organizations that will distribute it to small businesses in need of economic relief.
The money will go to the Carolina Small Business Fund and Wake Technical Community College. Small business owners can apply for up to $10,000 each.
To qualify, businesses must have a storefront, must have lost at least 25% of their revenue and make no more than $2.5 million in annual revenue. Business owners may not use the grants to pay themselves.
At-home testing kit
A North Carolina company has received “emergency-use authorization” from the FDA for an at-home COVID-19 testing kit that will be used by first-responders who may have been exposed to the virus. It will later be available to the general public.
The kit, made by LabCorp of Burlington, is the first authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for home use. To be eligible for at-home testing, a person must have a recommendation from a healthcare provider.
The company said the kit includes a swab that must be placed inside the nose and then mailed to LabCorp for testing. The company said the test will be available to the public within weeks at a cost of $119.
The nation’s response to the pandemic has been hampered by a limited amount of testing to determine who’s already sick and potentially spreading the virus.
News & Observer staff writers Jonathan M. Alexander, Ashad Hajela, Keung Hui, Drew Jackson, Anna Johnson, Josh Shaffer, Richard Stradling and Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report., along with Michael Gordon of the Charlotte Observer.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 11:15 AM.
