Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Sept. 16
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 188,000
At least 188,024 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,149 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday reported 1,137 new COVID-19 cases, up from 1,106 reported the day before.
Thirty-eight coronavirus-related deaths were reported Wednesday, down from 51 the day before.
Tuesday’s total was a single-day record for the state, surpassing the previous high of 50 deaths reported Sept. 5. However, not all of the deaths occurred on the same day as the number reflects the day they were reported to the state.
About 5.8% of tests were reported positive as of Monday, the latest day for which data is available, slightly above health officials’ goal of 5% or lower. The new percentage was the highest reported in six days.
At least 918 people in North Carolina were reportedly hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday, up from 906 reported the day before. Tuesday’s preliminary hospitalization total had previously been listed as 916.
Health officials are watching for a spike in cases related to Labor Day weekend. The state saw a spike in the weeks after the Fourth of July holiday. But it will take 14 to 21 days to know if Labor Day activities led to an increase in cases.
More generous small business loans
A small business loan funded by the state legislature now has more generous terms.
The program needs to give out more than $53 million before a deadline. The Rapid Recovery Loan Program had $75 million in funding from the legislature on top of $15 million in funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation, which oversees the program along with the N.C. Rural Center and others.
As of Tuesday the program had issued 1,062 loans, totaling more than $37 million. But half of its budget is left with the application deadline on Oct. 15, and the money must be spent by the end of the year under federal coronavirus relief terms.
The Rural Center on Tuesday announced businesses can now borrow up to $250,000 with no payments and 0.25% interest for the first 18 months. Under the previous terms, businesses had five years to repay the loans. Now, they have eight and a half years to do so.
Forest says no mask mandate if he’s governor
Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, the Republican running for governor against incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, said Wednesday he would do away with the statewide mask mandate if elected.
“When I’m governor I would lift the mask mandate for the state and allow individual freedom to decide whether they wear a mask,” he said during a news conference.
Cooper issued the mask mandate in late June.
Forest also said he wants to reopen schools and that students and staff shouldn’t be required to wear masks.
“I don’t think there’s any science that backs that up. That’s my personal opinion,” he said. “All science is based on skepticism.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the country’s top health experts recommend the use of face masks to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. On Wednesday, CDC chief Dr. Robert Redfield said there is “clear scientific evidence” that they work.
Cooper campaign spokesperson Liz Doherty told The News & Observer Wednesday that Forest cares more about politics than he does people.
“His dangerous plans and spread of misinformation, especially his insistence that masks don’t work, would set us back in our fight against COVID,” Doherty said.
Higher death rate reported in rural counties
Rural North Carolina counties have higher coronavirus-related death rates than urban and suburban parts of the state, data show.
“I hope people don’t assume this is just an urban problem,” state epidemiologist Zack Moore told The Charlotte Observer. “… This is something affecting all parts of the state. And rural areas are in no way immune to this problem.”
Some of the state’s rural residents work in food processing facilities, prisons or nursing homes, which have been linked to coronavirus cases.
Experts say there are also systemic problems in rural areas, which tend to have lower access to medical care and office jobs that would allow residents to stay home. The population is typically “older, poorer and sicker than those in the suburbs and cities,” the Observer reported Wednesday.
GOP demands in-person school, a consideration for Wake
State Republican leaders and parents on Wednesday pressured Gov. Roy Cooper to give families the choice of fully in-person instruction at schools.
“Few, if any, of North Carolina’s 1.5 million public school students are getting daily face-to-face classes at the start of the school year” due to the coronavirus, The News & Observer reported Wednesday.
Many in the GOP have slammed the decision to not have on-campus classes full time. They say virtual learning can be hard on families and plan to mobilize people statewide to press Cooper, a Democrat.
But some fellow Democrats have backed the state’s plan, saying it’s good to err on the side of caution when it comes to a full return to school.
The push comes as the Wake County school system could have every student come to campus daily when it returns to in-person instruction.
The option is one of four the district is considering. The school board previously approved a plan to split students into three groups that rotate between one week of in-person classes and two weeks of remote classes. But with the majority of students opting for the Virtual Academy, rotation may not be necessary.
The county might instead switch to one week of in-person classes followed by a week of remote learning or to no rotation with just daily in-person classes.
Wake school officials also presented a plan Tuesday to bring high school sports teams back to campuses. High school sports in the county have been suspended since mid-March due to the pandemic but officials have now presented a plan for a “soft rollout and cautious return to play for student athletes,” The N&O reported.
Cross country and volleyball would be the first sports back on Oct. 1, with a maximum of two workout days a week. There would then be a “live period,” when workouts can be held five days a week before the season starts. Other sports would start at later dates if the plan goes well.
The plans come as parents in nearby Orange County push for students to be allowed to return to schools. They join some parents across the state unhappy with remote learning because children sit at a computer all day.
A Facebook group, Re-Open Orange County Schools, had 268 members as of Tuesday morning.
Air quality concerns in Charlotte schools
Some are concerned about the air quality inside school buildings as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools consider whether to allow some students to return for in-person learning after months of virtual learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
School and health leaders have outlined reopening metrics such as the county’s virus positivity rate, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) availability and the readiness of buildings. But some are concerned aging heating and cooling systems in school buildings increase the risk of spreading the virus.
The district says it’s working to improve the air quality ahead of students’ return, but some of the measures fall short of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
District officials told The Charlotte Observer that school HVAC systems can’t accommodate the CDC’s prescribed filters and that CDC recommended portable filtration systems are too expensive. Additionally, 39 schools have systems that can’t bring in outside air, which are recommended by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Of those, 26 enroll predominantly Black and Hispanic students.
“I am angry about this. I’m watching where they are intending to bring people back, into those buildings on that list,” Erlene Lyde, a teacher at West Charlotte High School, told The Observer. “They need to be transparent with communities of color. These buildings are not safe.”
The Board of Education will hold a special meeting Wednesday night that will include discussions about bringing students back to campuses. The public can tune in to watch on CMS board’s Facebook page at 6 p.m.
Top NC health official supports vaccine development
Dr. Cohen said during a news conference Tuesday that she supports the steps being taken to develop and test a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
She said she’s heard from “career regulators” at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the safety and efficacy measures they’ll use and that she feels “very comfortable” with them.
“There’s still a lot more science to do, but we know that vaccines are going to be such an important tool to us combating this crisis, so I am pleased that the federal government has worked as hard as they can to move as fast as they can,” she said. “I think we all need to watch for the data, let the regulators do their job at the FDA, and be ready to take the vaccine when it is safe and it is available for everyone to have it.”
Her comments came the day after Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham said during a debate that he would be “hesitant” to get a coronavirus vaccine if one is available by the end of the year due to concerns about “political and financial corruption” surrounding it in Washington, D.C.
“I’m going to ask a lot of questions,” he said, according to The News & Observer. “I think that’s incumbent on all of us right now with the way we’ve seen politics intervening in Washington.”
Republican incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis called his response during the debate “irresponsible.”
“That statement puts lives at risk and it makes it more difficult to manage a crisis that he presents to say he’s up to the task to manage,” Tillis said. “We just heard a candidate for the U.S. Senate look into the camera and tell 10 million North Carolinians he would be hesitant to take a vaccine. I think that that’s irresponsible.”
After the debate, Cunningham clarified that if public health professionals “sign off” on the vaccine he would not hesitate to get it and would encourage others to do the same.
Thousands mistakenly told they tested positive for COVID-19
Thousands of people in Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, were mistakenly told in text messages and emails they tested positive for the coronavirus.
The county originally blamed a scam but later said the messages were due to a software glitch.
More than 6,700 texts and 500 emails went out, though the county doesn’t share testing results in those ways. It’s unknown how many of the people who received the messages tested positive for COVID-19, The Charlotte Observer reported Monday.
The notice came as health officials in the Charlotte area reported advances in contact tracing and the start of a second consecutive month of a declining COVID-19 caseload.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 7:47 AM.
