Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Aug. 18
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Reported deaths reach new daily record
At least 146,779 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 2,396 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday reported more than 1,200 new cases of COVID-19 — more than double the 563 cases reported Monday. The daily record is the 2,481 new cases reported in mid-July.
Forty-eight additional deaths were reported Monday, the highest single-day increase since the pandemic began in North Carolina in early March.
The previous single-day high was 45 deaths on July 29 and Aug. 12.
Not all deaths occurred on the same day, according to the state health department.
The number of people hospitalized in the state jumped by 46 on Tuesday for a total of 1,026 statewide.
Workers test positive at Christmas tree farm
Bottomley Evergreens & Farms in Alleghany County has reported the largest COVID-19 outbreak among farmworkers housed by farmers during the season with 109 cases.
The farm employs roughly 400 workers, The News & Observer reported.
Alleghany County had less than 70 cases at the end of July before the outbreak at the Christmas tree farm began.
“It’s not particularly surprising where you’ve got such a large group of workers and essentially sharing housing spaces,” said Justin Flores, vice president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the state’s only farmworker union. “...With just one or a few cases, it would pretty rapidly spread cases, and especially (when) you have folks that are either asymptomatic or not having severe enough symptoms to raise big flags.”
NC State reports off-campus cluster
N.C. State University reported its first COVID-19 cluster on Tuesday at an off-campus house on the 2700 block of Clark Avenue in Raleigh.
State health officials define a cluster as five or more cases in close proximity.
The university linked the cases to a party held at the residence on Aug. 6 and encouraged anyone who attended to get tested for the virus, The News & Observer reported.
At least eight students in fraternities and sororities have tested positive, a university spokesperson told The N&O.
Mail sorting machines removed from Charlotte
Seven mail sorting machines were removed from a U.S. Postal Service facility near Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Tuesday, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The machines were among 25 to 28 used at the facility, Miriam Bell, a 23-year employee of the Postal Service and president of the American Postal Workers Union Charlotte Area Local, 375, told The Observer.
Workers didn’t know why the machines were being removed, nor was it clear if they’d be returned following an announcement by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that retail hours would not change and blue collection boxes would remain where they are.
“To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded,” Dejoy said in a statement.
Wake shifts attendance policy
Wake County schools rolled out a proposed attendance policy for online learning on Tuesday.
Under the proposed policy, students won’t be marked absent even if they don’t attend live online classes or hand in their assignments — if they speak on the telephone with their teachers, The News & Observer reported.
The school board will discuss and vote on the policy Tuesday night.
NC Attorney General confident about mail-in voting
As the U.S. Postal Service experiences shakeups, North Carolina’s attorney general said he wants to share “a word of confidence” with voters.
Josh Stein said the state is the first in the nation to send mail-in ballots, which will start going out Sept. 4. Voters can request absentee voting ahead of time.
“You can put your ballot back in the mail and have near 100% certainty that it will get there well in advance and your vote will be counted,” he told The News & Observer.
Stein, a Democrat running for reelection against Jim O’Neill, said he is considering legal action related to USPS. The postal service last week told North Carolina voters that they should send in ballots early to ensure on-time delivery.
The USPS is facing funding concerns ahead of the 2020 presidential election, when it’s expected to see a surge in mail-in voting due to the coronavirus.
Inmate released due to COVID-19
A woman in pretrial detention became the first person in the Western District of North Carolina to be released due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Federal judges had previously rejected motions from inmates who were awaiting trial and said they had underlying medical conditions.
Brittany Cowick’s “plea, however, apparently resonated with U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler: She’s eight months pregnant with her third child,” the Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday.
Cowick, who was among inmates who asked for their cases to be reviewed after a COVID-19 jail outbreak in Mecklenburg County, is now on house arrest.
UNC reports 130 new cases, moves online
UNC-Chapel Hill will move to online instruction starting Wednesday after reporting 130 new cases of the coronavirus last week, officials announced Monday.
Barbara K. Rimer, dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, pushed for the university to make the shift online after at least four COVID-19 clusters — five or more infections in close proximity — were reported at residence halls and an off-campus fraternity over the weekend.
“The rationale for taking an off-ramp now is that the number of clusters is growing and soon could become out of control, threatening the health of others on campus and in the community and putting scarce resources at risk,” Rimer wrote in a blog post.
The Daily Tar Heel, UNC-Chapel Hill’s independent student newspaper, published a scathing editorial Monday about the situation.
UNC System President Peter Hans said Chapel Hill’s decision to move online does not impact any of the other 16 campuses, including N.C. State University and UNC-Charlotte.
UNC football coach Mack Brown also said he plans to move ahead with the team’s season as planned.
The Chapel Hill town council in a letter Monday said the school didn’t take responsibility for its students’ actions off campus. The leaders also said the reported cases at housing facilities could lead to long-term impacts.
“Unfortunately, this avoidable outcome is the direct result of decisions made by the university administration and exacerbated by many students’ disregard for the University’s Community Standards as well as state and local laws,” the letter said, according to The News & Observer.
Duke Energy warns overdue customers to pay
Duke Energy is warning customers who are overdue on their electricity bills to pay before the state moratorium on disconnections during the coronavirus pandemic ends Sept. 1.
Duke is giving customers an extra 30 days after that expiration date to settle past due payments, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Customers who need extra time can create flexible payment plans without a down payment, Duke said Monday. Late fees will continue to be waived until further notice.
Duke also said lower-income customers are eligible to seek financial aid through North Carolina’s Crisis Intervention Program and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Moral Mondays focus on USPS slowdowns
The Poor People’s Campaign and the Rev. William Barber II have turned their attention to Congress in the latest Moral Monday protest.
The event, held online Monday, was “aimed at pressuring U.S. Sen. Maj. Leader Mitch McConnell to force congressional action on a pandemic-relief package,” The News & Observer reported.
Organizers described it as “a digital sit-in and call in,” where participants were encouraged to call McConnell’s congressional offices. It’s the third digital Moral Monday aimed at approving a second relief package for individuals and families — “not corporations,” according to The N&O.
The group also called attention to an “orchestrated slowdown” of the U.S. Postal Service, which Barber said is “a dangerous form of voter suppression.”
“Poor, low-income people and their allies won’t rest until McConnell returns the Senate to Washington, D.C., to pass a relief bill, defend democracy and protect the post office,” Barber told The N&O.
Charlotte readies for RNC
Organizers of the Republican National Convention haven’t released a full schedule of the event slated for next week, but the Queen City is expected to play host to a small portion of it on Aug. 24.
The Republican National Committee will host private meetings in Charlotte this weekend. Then, on Aug. 24 starting at 9 a.m., the formal nominations of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will take place at the Charlotte Convention Center.
“A total of 336 delegates, six from each state and territory, will gather,” the Observer reported.
Delegates will undergo health screenings before their arrival and are expected to wear masks. They will also be seated at least six feet apart during the convention.
“It inherently has risks just because we’re in the middle of a pandemic,” Dr. Jeff Runge, the convention’s health director, told the Observer. “I think it’s going to be very safe with everything we’ve put into place.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 6:50 AM.
