Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on July 10
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 81,000
At least 81,331 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 1,479 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday reported an additional 1,982 cases of the virus, down from 2,039 reported the day before. The daily case total reported on Thursday was the second-highest since the start of the pandemic.
More than 1.1 million coronavirus tests have been completed in North Carolina, 9% of which have come back positive, state data show.
Hospitalizations exceed 1,000 again
The number of people reported hospitalized with COVID-19 in North Carolina reached another single-day high on Friday, with 1,046.
Friday’s total surpassed the previous record of 1,034 hospitalizations reported the day before and marked the fifth record-breaking day in a row.
More than 900 daily hospitalizations have been reported in North Carolina each day since June 30.
About 22% of intensive care unit beds were available as of Friday, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Within the growing number of hospitalizations, The News & Observer reported the number of those who are considered seriously ill remains steady.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said Friday the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units has stayed between 275 and 325 since early June.
“We’re seeing more patients in the hospital but less of them needing that highest level of severe care that we would see in hospitals,” Cohen said at a news conference this week. “That is a good thing.”
Lawsuit challenges vote-by-mail changes
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing state lawmakers and election officials over the state’s vote-by-mail provisions, which require a witness sign ballots being sent by mail.
Voter advocates say the rules could force “elderly voters and those with increased coronavirus risks” to go to the polls and risk their health unnecessarily, The News & Observer reported.
“No one should be forced to choose between their health and their vote,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Removing the witness requirements in the middle of a deadly pandemic just makes sense. It is an obvious and common-sense solution that protects people’s health and their right to vote.”
Charlotte leaders fear second lockdown
Mecklenburg County commissioners are wary of increasing coronavirus cases and hospitalizations alongside the start of a new school year, with some saying another wave of restrictions could be inevitable.
County Health Director Gibbie Harris has assured commissioners hospitals still have the capacity to treat infected patients, the Charlotte Observer reported.
But Charlotte leaders worry about the city’s population density, which has contributed to Mecklenburg County becoming a coronavirus hotspot in the state.
“I feel like we’re just sitting here watching a train come toward us, and we’re just sitting on the track,” Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell told the Observer. “And we’re like, ‘Oh, maybe it will stop before it hits me, and maybe it won’t.’ It’s just a really weird feeling.”
COVID-19 changes election landscape
The coronavirus pandemic has likely changed how voters view the governor’s race this fall, The News & Observer reported.
“It has allowed Gov. Cooper to look very gubernatorial and as a leader — not that he didn’t before, but to exercise his power to ... keep the people of North Carolina safe,” Jarvis Hall, a political science professor at N.C. Central University in Durham, told The N&O.
Republican Dan Forest, who is finishing up his second term as lieutenant governor, will face Cooper at the polls in four months. Cooper is seeking his second and final term as governor.
Republicans have criticized Cooper for being slow to reopen the state, The N&O reported. But “Forest entered the summer trailing in most polls.”
Governor legalizes masks indefinitely
Gov. Roy Cooper signed legislation Friday that allows wearing a face covering for public health reasons indefinitely.
It was previously illegal in the state of North Carolina to wear a mask, The News & Observer reported, but legislators voted this spring to suspend that regulation until at least Aug. 1.
Wearing a mask is mandatory until at least July 17, but the governor could extend that deadline.
The legislation passed under Senate Bill 232, which also repeals a “controversial public records provision” of another bill, according to the N&O. Cooper already vetoed that bill.
“The overwhelming support for this legislation demonstrates support among state leaders for wearing a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Cooper said in a news release. “This is important as we move forward to limit the spread of the virus so we can educate our children and push the economy forward.”
Carolina Inn lays off hundreds
The historic Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill is laying off the majority of its employees as the coronavirus pandemic hampers the hospitality industry.
A total of 217 employees will be laid off effective Saturday, according a notice filed with the state Department of Commerce.
“We were hopeful that the restrictions and associated loss in revenue would be temporary,” Hotel manager Mark Sherburne said in the notice. “Since that time, it has recently become apparent that there will be longer-term revenue impacts as a result of the continued spread of the virus ... all of which have resulted in the sudden and unexpected effective shutdown of much of our business.”
The Carolina Inn, operated by multinational hotel chain Hyatt, started furloughing employees in early April, the N&O reported. But the layoffs will be permanent with furloughs that exceed six months.
Republican senator tests positive
A Republican state senator tested positive one day after legislators finished voting this week, Senate leader Phil Berger said Friday.
Berger would not name the senator but said he tested negative before the session started “only to test positive later,” The News & Observer reported.
“He was not symptomatic when he took the second test,” Berger said. “He is staying home and feels well.“
Sen. Danny Britt of Lumberton tweeted Friday afternoon that he was the one who tested positive in response to a Tweet from Democratic Sen. Jay Chaudhuri of Raleigh expressing frustrations over fellow lawmakers not wearing masks.
“My apologies my friend I was actually the one who tested positive and though I wear a mask on occasion I do not always,” Britt wrote in a tweet that was later deleted. “I developed a medical condition from serving in Iraq in 06-07 and Kuwait in 11-12. That condition causes extreme difficulty in breathing in wearing masks.”
National Guard to help test inmates
North Carolina is bringing in the National Guard to help test the prison population for COVID-19, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Department of Public Safety spokesman John Bull told the Observer the guard’s 42nd Civil Support Team “with expertise in chemical and biological detection” will be helping prison officials test inmates in the next few weeks.
They started Wednesday at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, which has the second largest outbreak or coronavirus cases in the state.
The state has currently tested inmates en masse at 14 of its 53 prisons, Bull told the Observer.
“With the additional support from the Guard, the department is hopeful that it can complete systemwide testing within the next 30 days, barring any unforeseen circumstances,” he said.
Coronavirus law includes voter ID provision
North Carolina lawmakers included a provision about voter IDs in a bill responding to the coronavirus.
The provision made it into an unrelated proposal that called for easing the vote-by-mail process for the November election.
After the voter ID provision was signed into law last month, Republican leaders in a court filing Thursday argued ID requirements should be in effect. Courts have blocked the state’s voter ID law, “with judges agreeing that it appears to have been written with racist intentions,” The News & Observer reported.
Butner inmates not tested upon release
Two inmates at a hard-hit federal prison in North Carolina weren’t tested for COVID-19 upon their release in May, The News & Observer and The Marshall Project reported.
Family members said the men had the coronavirus when they left the Federal Correctional Complex at Butner and boarded planes. One was rushed from the Denver airport to a hospital, where he died, according to The N&O.
The Bureau of Prisons at the time didn’t test outbound prisoners but changed that policy in June.
At least 25 inmates and one staffer at Butner have died, more than any other federal prison.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 6:57 AM.
