NC makes tentative plans to reopen, as residents urge caution and new COVID-19 cases confirmed
North Carolinians are getting ready for the possibility of a slow reawakening of the state that could begin next week, as they wait to hear whether the governor is willing to lift restrictions and they decide how far they’re willing to venture out if he does.
Gov. Roy Cooper has said he was hopes his stay-at-home order can expire on May 8, with Phase One of the reopening process to begin May 9.
A majority of North Carolina residents, meanwhile, seem to favor a cautious approach to reopening, according to a poll released Friday.
Also on Friday, Johnston County reported a coronavirus outbreak at a 13-bed, apartment-style residential-care facility, The News & Observer reported. Two people tested positive for COVID-19 at Cambridge Place in Smithfield, according to Lu Hickey, a Johnston County spokesperson. One was a resident and the other, an employee.
The apartments house pregnant and postpartum mothers and their newborns, as well as women in recovery, according to the program’s website.
The state defines an outbreak as two or more cases, and as of Friday, North Carolina had at least 22 outbreaks at residential-care facilities, according to DHHS. There have been 357 confirmed cases at residential-care facilities in the state and 36 deaths.
In Vance County, 35 people have tested positive and one person has died due to coronavirus at Pelican Health Henderson, the county health department said Friday.
On Friday morning, the state Department of Health and Human Resources reported 414 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, for a total of 10,923. The state counted another 21 deaths, for a total of 399 since the first known case of the viral illness was reported in the state on March 3.
The DHHS reported Friday that 133,832 tests had been completed, an increase of 5,315.
The News & Observer is keeping a separate case tally based on DHHS and reports from county health departments, which tends to be higher because the state updates its total once a day. On Friday evening, that count stood at 11,071 cases in 98 counties and 419 deaths in 60 counties.
On Friday, a Walgreens store in Durham began offering drive-thru coronavirus testing. Testing is available at the Guess Road store for people who have appointments and meet certain criteria, county officials said.
Those interested must fill out information on the Walgreens website, according to a news release. Pharmacists will be on hand as patients administer their own tests outside the building.
Poll finds caution about reopening
North Carolinians are “very cautious about reopening” and support Cooper’s extension of stay-at-home orders, despite protests over the coronavirus response, according to a recent online poll of 604 registered voters in the state.
The Meredith College Poll, conducted April 27-28, found that the majority of citizens do not want to quickly return to everyday activities like eating at restaurants, going out to bars or getting their hair cut at a salon. Nearly 75% said they don’t want public schools reopened this year, The News & Observer reported.
North Carolinians support Cooper’s more measured plans for the state’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis even as protesters demand restrictions be lifted, according to David McLennan, director of the Meredith Poll. The poll’s margin of error is +/-4%.
Public school buildings across the state have been closed to students since mid-March, and Cooper announced last week that they would remain closed for the rest of the school year, effectively canceling plans for rites such as proms and graduation ceremonies.
Graduation still a question mark
On Friday, Wake County school leaders said they will announce in the next two weeks how graduations will be honored this year for the county’s 11,000 high school seniors. Mass gatherings are unlikely to be allowed by the time ceremonies were originally planned, but options such as virtual graduations and in-person events later in the summer are still possibilities, school leaders told The News & Observer.
The large crowds at graduations pose social distancing challenges. Most Wake high schools have 400 to 600 graduates who bring multiple guests.
“The likelihood of anything that resembles a traditional graduation in May or June again is unlikely,” Wake County school board chairman Keith Sutton said at a news conference Friday. “But we’ve heard a lot from our students, from our parents and the community, and they would like to see something.
“Anything that we put together that may resemble a traditional graduation or a virtual nature will take some planning.”
Some students can clear out their dorms
Some universities have begun allowing students and parents to schedule a time to retrieve belongings from their dorm rooms, which they left when campuses were cleared weeks ago. State and county health officials say it’s safe for people to travel to the campuses if people follow strict procedures, The News & Observer reported.
At UNC, students can make staggered appointments through May 17 and will have three hours to pack and move out. Appointments will be arranged to limit the number of people on each floor of every dorm at one time.
Students and families should not come to campus if they have been or are sick, the university said.
UNC wants to move students out now to provide residents hall space for staff providing essential service, the university said, and to allow time for routine maintenance and repairs.
N.C. State University students who need to recover belongings from residence halls can begin doing so this weekend. Residents can sign up for a specific checkout time through May 10.
Duke University is not allowing students to return to campus to move out as it prioritizes the “broader public health interests” of the Duke community, it said.
State will release case data by ZIP code
State officials began Friday to release the number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases by ZIP code, The News & Observer reported. The totals are available on the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ website.
At least 10 counties had previously released data showing their cases by ZIP code. Orange County had refused, citing medical privacy laws, and several other counties had not fulfilled The News & Observer’s requests for the data.
The state will not release coronavirus case numbers in ZIP codes with fewer than 500 people and fewer than five cases, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, DHHS secretary.
“That doesn’t mean there aren’t people with COVID-19 in those ZIP codes,” she said.
Previously, the state had released the number of cases by county on its website.
The state is about to get help tracing cases of illness. North Carolina announced Friday that more than 1,000 people applied for 250 jobs as contact tracers since the openings were posted Wednesday. afternoon.
Contact tracing is thought to be a key step in reopening the U.S. after the coronavirus shut down most restaurants, bars, hair salons and retailers, McClatchy News has reported. Contact tracers track down people who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
Staff writers Jonathan Alexander, Hayley Fowler, Ashad Hajela, T. Keung Hui, Simone Jasper, Kate Murphy and Lucille Sherman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 11:40 AM.
