Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Sept. 10
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Deaths inch closer to 3,000
At least 180,754 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 2,990 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday reported 1,222 new COVID-19 cases, up from 897 reported the day before.
Thirty-two deaths were also reported Thursday, down from 49 on Wednesday. The record-high of 50 deaths was reported Saturday.
On Tuesday, the most recent day with available information, 6.3% of COVID-19 tests were reported positive. Health officials say that number should ideally be 5% or lower.
At least 928 people in North Carolina were reportedly hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday with 90% of hospitals reporting.
Ivanka Trump visits NC
Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Donald Trump, visited the North Carolina State Farmer’s Market on Thursday to tout a federal program designed to provide food for hungry families during the coronavirus pandemic.
The program is backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and supplies families and connects farmers with local food banks, The News & Observer reported.
“There were people struggling at every end of the spectrum from farmers to distributors to families who had never been to a food bank before,” Ivanka Trump said during her visit. “The ability to bring our country’s produce to those in need is so important.”
She was joined Thursday by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Rep. David Rouzer, a Wilmington Republican. All three wore masks, according to The N&O.
The Trump campaign — and, by extension, his family — have showed a renewed interest in North Carolina with the election less than two months away. The president visited Winston-Salem on Tuesday and Wilmington last week. His son Eric Trump also visited High Point last week.
Charlotte braces for new cases after Labor Day
Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris warned the county’s falling positivity rate, lower number of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals and a declining number of new lab-confirmed cases isn’t likely to stick after the holiday weekend.
Harris told elected officials in a report Wednesday the easing of restrictions on local businesses, a return of college students and several illegal parties with too many people not wearing masks are to blame, The Charlotte Observer reported.
One business in Matthews hosted a party with more than 100 people and several nightclubs also opened, she said.
“More and more, we’re seeing people frustrated, wanting to get back to normal, and just saying, ‘Forget it. I’m done with this. I’m just going to go do what I want to do,’” Harris said.
She called videos of parties over Labor Day weekend “really terribly unfortunate.”
Dave & Buster’s announces layoffs
Dave & Buster’s locations across North Carolina are laying off more than 200 workers as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Locations in Pineville, Winston-Salem and Cary will permanently layoff 229 employees effective Nov. 8, according to documents filed with the state Commerce Department. That includes 58 employees at Carolina Place mall in Pineville, 92 at Walnut Street in Cary and 79 at Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem.
All three have been shut down by the virus but not permanently closed.
“We did not foresee how significantly and for how long a time the pandemic and related governmental lockdown orders would impact our business,” the filing stated.
White House official supports testing on college campuses
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told officials in North Carolina she supports widespread testing on college campuses and “lamented” people not wearing masks during her visit to the state Wednesday.
Birx met with Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Gov. Roy Cooper in Raleigh.
A recent report from the White House coronavirus task force labeled North Carolina in the “red zone,” citing more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people, The News & Observer reported.
But Cohen told reporters Thursday the state’s case rates are still among the lowest in the Southeast.
She said the state plateaued at a “stubbornly high rate,” but expects there will be progress if North Carolina slowly loosens restrictions and keeps social distancing measures in place.
Parents frustrated with virtual school
Some parents in North Carolina are calling for schools to reopen with in-person instruction after a month of online-only learning.
“There are families that prefer this virtual learning platform, and it may work well for them,” Erin Wall, a Cary parent, told The news & Observer. “But then I feel like there are other children who need to be in school and want to be in school.
Earlier this week, parents in Charlotte filed a lawsuit trying to force Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools to reopen. But Wake County schools said they need “grace and patience.”
“We know that this is hard,” Wake County school board Chairman Keith Sutton told parents at last week’s board meeting. “We know that this is difficult. But we’re here with you, and again we are working to open schools as soon as we can safely do so. So hang in there.”
There were 42 public comments at that board meeting regarding the possibility of schools reopening, The N&O reported.
Parents say their children are unhappy spending hours on a computer screen and it’s damaging to their mental health. Students with special needs children have also struggled with virtual learning.
“School is not just academics,” said Sarah Baker, a Raleigh parent whose 10-year-old son is in special-education classes. “His goal is not to learn to read. It’s to learn how to use a fork. Everything about his school experience is physical and tangible.”
Deadline for DMV credentials extended
Gov. Roy Cooper extended the expiration date on drivers with commercial licenses, learner’s permits, state IDs and handicapped placards when he signed the Coronavirus Relief Act. 3.0 into law last week.
Vehicles also received an extension of their expiration dates, as did holders of inspection mechanic licenses, The News & Observer reported.
Under the new law, those DMV credentials won’t expire until 30 days after Cooper lifts the state of emergency related to the coronavirus pandemic in North Carolina. It is the second extension legislators have passed since the start of the pandemic.
SAT scores drop in NC
The average SAT score in North Carolina fell in 2020, a year when fewer students took the test and some colleges stopped requiring it due to COVID-19.
Across the state, the N.C. Department of Department of Public Instruction says the average score dropped to 1,089. That’s two points below last year’s total and 59 points above the average for public school students nationwide.
The results came after the coronavirus forced some SAT tests to be canceled last spring, The News & Observer reported Thursday.
The test was losing popularity after the state in 2012 started requiring public school students to take the ACT.
Cooper changes plan on protections for agricultural workers
Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said it couldn’t follow through on a commitment to make an executive order that would offer protections for agricultural workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
A draft of the order called for social distancing, sanitation and screening and testing for COVID-19.
Organizations had wanted a response from the state as the coronavirus pandemic “dealt a blow to the largely Latino immigrant agricultural workforce in North Carolina’s fields and meat processing plants,” The News & Observer reported Thursday.
Cooper’s office said it would address the concerns, but pushback from state agencies prevented an executive order from being enacted.
“Protecting agriculture and meat processing workers is a high priority,” spokesperson Dory MacMillan said. “While the governor and public health officials have had success on increasing some safety protocols and outbreak reporting, there remains significant disagreement among growers, state labor officials and workers about overall solutions.”
No new cases from RNC, but Labor Day could cause spike
Coronavirus cases could rise in the Charlotte area after Labor Day weekend parties, the Mecklenburg County health director warned.
Gibbie Harris in a report to elected officials mentioned relaxed coronavirus-related restrictions, returning college students and recent illegal gatherings where few people wore masks or practiced social distancing, The Charlotte Observer reported Thursday.
The report comes as Mecklenburg County has recently reported improvements, including lower coronavirus case and hospitalization counts.
Harris on Wednesday also said there have been no new positive coronavirus tests related to the Republican National Convention in Charlotte since cases were initially announced in August.
Four people at the convention were diagnosed with the virus after being tested for it when they arrived. Fourteen others were potentially exposed and asked to quarantine. Harris said no new cases have been reported since, but tracking will continue for 21 days after the event.
The RNC was the largest indoor event held in Charlotte since the start of the pandemic, prompting concerns it would exacerbate the spread of the virus. An “after-action” report of the full impact of the convention will take weeks, The Charlotte Observer reported.
NC State reports cluster; UNC-Chapel Hill launches tests
N.C. State University on Tuesday reported new COVID-19 cases at an off-campus apartment complex.
Ten students tested positive for the virus, marking the first time since late August that the Raleigh school reported a coronavirus cluster. Students had been ordered to leave residence halls by Sept. 6. Since classes started in August, N.C. State has reported 32 COVID-19 clusters, with students getting infections in on- and off-campus housing.
The new cases come as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Wednesday started a program that gives students without symptoms the option to get daily tests for COVID-19.
Prospective Evaluation Testing is meant to help stop the spread of the virus among students in dorms, The News & Observer reported. The program will later offer voluntary tests for students who are in Chapel Hill or Carrboro but don’t live on campus.
Also at UNC-Chapel Hill, football players will be tested each week they play games, The N&O reported.
About 1,000 people are still living on campus after the school last month told students to stop their housing contracts, with some exceptions. Several coronavirus clusters had been reported at the school’s dorms.
The impacts of the virus have varied at universities across the state. While UNC, N.C. State and East Carolina University in Greenville moved classes online shortly after the start of the semester, other universities are “staying the course.”
“My sense is that there are multiple other institutions in the system where the numbers are not trending the right direction, but they have not yet reached that crisis moment that played out at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Kevin McClure, a higher education professor at UNC-Wilmington, told The N&O.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 6:59 AM.
