Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Aug. 12
Click here for updates for Aug. 13.
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 139,000
At least 139,061 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 2,249 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday reported an additional 1,166 cases of COVID-19, up from 1,051 cases reported the day before.
An additional 45 deaths were also reported Wednesday.
The health department on Wednesday said the number of total tests it has been reporting has been inaccurate due to errors in lab reporting.
Officials now say 1.8 million COVID-19 tests have been completed in North Carolina, about 221,000 less than what they originally reported.
The health department on Wednesday reported a positive test rate of 7%. It says the lab-reporting error does not change the percent of positive tests or the number of cases.
Hospitalizations decrease slightly
At least 1,062 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday, down from 1,105 reported Tuesday.
Wednesday’s count is based on data from 91% of hospitals in the state.
More inmates at Durham jail test positive
Twelve more inmates at the Durham County jail have tested positive for COVID-19 for a total of 20 cases in the facility’s most recent outbreak, officials said Wednesday.
Eight inmates initially tested positive, prompting all staff members and inmates to be tested for the virus.
One of the positive cases was a detainee in intake quarantine.
More deaths reported in Wake nursing homes
Nineteen coronavirus-related deaths were reported at Wake County nursing homes between Aug. 7 and 11, the health department reported.
Data show 14 new resident deaths at Hillside Nursing Center of Wake Forest, two more resident deaths at UNC Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center of Raleigh, two more resident deaths at Capital Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and one more death at Litchford Falls Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.
The county has 16 ongoing nursing home coronavirus outbreaks.
Four more residential care facilities in Charlotte reported new outbreaks of the virus, officials said this week. Mecklenburg County has 33 congregate living facilities with ongoing outbreaks.
Statewide, 906 coronavirus deaths are attributed to nursing home residents or staff members.
Health official warns about cases as colleges reopen
Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said she expects to see an increase in coronavirus cases as colleges and universities welcome students back.
“It’s an experiment,” Harris said during a Wednesday news conference. “We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. We do anticipate there’s going to be some cases.”
While some area schools will hold classes online, others plan to hold a mix of in-person and remote instruction.
College students have also started moving back to campuses in the Triangle area, leaving leaders there with an added challenge.
Orange County Health Director Quintana Stewart sent a memo asking UNC-Chapel Hill to have classes completely online for the fall semester or at least for the first five weeks of school. Durham and Wake County officials have been advising local universities but say they will not make recommendations on student housing or in-person classes, The News & Observer reports.
State moves to accept Trump unemployment benefits
Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday he’s started applying for President Donald Trump’s new program that will take money from FEMA disaster relief and use it for unemployment benefits.
The plan would give unemployed Americans $400 a week — a cut from the weekly $600 boost that stopped at the end of July and that Congress did not extend.
But bipartisan support in North Carolina will be required to make it work.
Cooper, a Democrat, is in charge of the application process but the Republican-controlled state legislature may be required to help pay for it.
Cooper decides how to spend aid
Cooper announced Wednesday he will put $95.6 million in federal coronavirus relief money toward helping students most impacted by the pandemic.
The money is from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, which is part of the federal CARES Act.
Republican lawmakers had proposed using the money for teacher bonuses but Cooper said he will use it to hire more school nurses, for academic programs for at-risk K-12 students and on tuition assistance for post-secondary students.
A spokesperson for Cooper previously told The News & Observer that, after consulting with other agencies, his office believes the CARES Act prevents Cooper from spending the money on bonuses or compensation.
“Learning during a pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for students and staff, whether in the classroom or remotely,” the governor said in a news release Wednesday. “This funding should help protect the physical and mental health at schools, and help bridge the gap for students with unique learning needs.”
Plan announced for high school sports
The start of high school sports in North Carolina has been pushed back again, with the football season moved into 2021, the N.C. High School Athletic Association announced Wednesday.
The sports calendar will begin Nov. 4 and football will start practice Feb. 8, 2021. All sports’ seasons will be shorter with fewer games.
All sports were supposed to start practice Aug. 1 but the NCHSAA pushed the start date back after Cooper announced last week that North Carolina will stay in Phase Two of its coronavirus reopening plan until at least Sept. 11.
Duke students test positive
Four Duke University students have tested positive for COVID-19.
The university is testing all students as they arrive at school this month and has received results for the first 3,116 tests conducted.
Students who test positive are required to isolate until they are cleared to use campus facilities. The school has 300 beds set aside where on-campus students can be isolated.
Only first- and second-year students and those with special circumstances are allowed to live on campus this semester, the school said. Some in-person instruction is allowed but all students can take online classes.
Neck gaiter industry wants more research after Duke study
The results of a Duke University study on face masks have put the neck gaiter industry in turmoil.
The fabrics that people wear around their necks and pull up to cover their mouths and noses didn’t perform well in a test of the best masks for helping prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Researchers tested droplets emitted when participants wore 15 types of face coverings, and neck gaiters “turned the larger droplets into a cloud of smaller ones that hung in the air longer,” The News & Observer reported Tuesday.
But Chris Bernat of Vapor Apparel said he thinks the researchers may have included a low-quality neck gaiter in the study and wanted Duke to test a better one.
Health club furloughs hundreds
A health club has furloughed hundreds of North Carolina workers.
Life Time Inc., a chain of “luxury athletic resorts,” has seven facilities in the state, The Charlotte Observer reported. They were expected to open Aug. 7, but the company furloughed 721 workers, according to data filed with the N.C. Department of Commerce.
The report lists 276 furloughs in Charlotte, 203 in Cary and 242 in Raleigh. They are supposed to be temporary.
“At this point, because of government restrictions, we do not have any indication as to when we will be able to fully reopen our North Carolina facilities,” the company said in the report.
Gyms and some other businesses in North Carolina are required to stay closed through at least Sept. 11 after Cooper last week extended Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan.
Judge sides with Cooper in lawsuit
A judge ruled Tuesday that Cooper likely has the authority to issue coronavirus-related orders without the agreement of other state leaders.
Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a Republican running against Cooper, sued the Democratic governor over some executive orders, saying Cooper shouldn’t be able to issue them on his own but should be required to get approval from the Council of State, which has a Republican majority.
Forest asked the judge to temporarily stop the governor from issuing executive orders until the lawsuit is over. But Wake County Superior Court Judge Jim Gale ruled the governor can continue issuing orders, saying Forest doesn’t seem to have a winning argument.
Forest will still have a chance to further argue his case.
First NC dog to test positive dies
A dog in North Carolina died after testing positive for COVID-19, officials said Tuesday.
It was the first confirmed case of coronavirus in a dog in the state, the health department says.
The male Newfoundland was about 8 years old. He was having trouble breathing and was taken to the N.C. State veterinary hospital earlier this month. He died of “acute illness,” a university spokesman said.
An investigation into the dog’s health and cause of death is ongoing.
A family member had tested positive for COVID-19 and then negative. The risk of people getting the virus from pets is low, and there’s no evidence dogs can infect other pets, according to veterinarians.
Meat plants with outbreaks not made public
As the coronavirus spread across North Carolina in May, state regulators proposed publishing a list of cases at each impacted meat processing facility, emails show.
But county officials were concerned about potential pushback from meat companies, and outbreaks at individual plants weren’t made public, The News & Observer reported.
“Unlike nursing homes – another hot spot for outbreaks – these facilities are not required to report COVID-19 numbers to DHHS, so any information about coronavirus outbreaks is reported voluntarily or discovered by officials through contact tracing and other measures,” according to the N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network.
Latinos, who constitute about half of workers at U.S. meat packing plants, are now the group with the highest portion of coronavirus cases in North Carolina.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 6:56 AM.
