Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Sept. 28
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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 208,000
At least 208,248 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,445 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday reported 868 new COVID-19 cases, down from 1,290 the day before.
The state began counting antigen test results, which backdate to May 20, last week. Positive results from the tests account for 2% of detected cases in North Carolina.
The antigen tests are rapid tests that detect proteins on the surface of the coronavirus and can be processed at a doctor’s office. Molecular tests, the tests the health department has been reporting on since the start of the pandemic, detect COVID-19’s genetic material and are processed in a lab.
Four additional deaths were reported Monday.
About 5.3% of tests were reported positive on Saturday, the most recent date available. That’s nearly in line with health officials’ goal of 5% or lower and up from 5.1% the day before.
At least 897 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday, down from 909 the day before. Sunday’s preliminary total had been 914.
Phase 2.5 of reopening is set to expire Oct. 2, and Gov. Roy Cooper has said he will announce early this week whether the state will continue relaxing coronavirus-related restrictions.
Visitors allowed in long-term care facilities
Visitations are now allowed at North Carolina nursing homes as long as the facility hasn’t had a recent coronavirus outbreak.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state health department, signed an order Monday allowing indoor visits at long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, adult care homes and other congregate facilities.
It applies to facilities that haven’t had an outbreak in the last 14 days and those in counties with a rate of positive COVID-19 tests that’s less than 10%. All but seven of the state’s 100 counties currently meet that mark.
Visitors must be screened for coronavirus symptoms and must wear a face covering. They also must use hand sanitizer before and after each visit, among other rules.
Nursing homes across North Carolina have been hot spots for the virus.
Durham school closes after probable case
Southwest Elementary School will close until Wednesday due to a probable case of COVID-19 in an employee, Durham Public Schools announced Monday.
The school is home to one of the district’s six remote learning centers that provide full-day childcare. It’s also one of 25 schools that serve as a food distribution site.
Both will also reopen Wednesday, and families who normally pick up meals at Southwest Elementary can do so at W.G. Pearson Elementary on Tuesday.
It’s the fourth time since August the district has temporarily closed a school due to a COVID-19 test.
Officials are working on contact tracing following the positive test.
Town salutes firefighter lost to COVID-19
Hundreds gathered in Clayton on Monday to salute a firefighter who died of complications from the coronavirus last week.
Jason Dean, 42, tested positive for the virus after an outbreak at the Clayton Fire Department.
His coffin, draped in a flag, rolled down Main Street on Monday on his deputy chief’s fire truck while attendees gathered on the sidewalk holding American flags, wearing red ribbons and holding up their arms in salute, The News & Observer reports.
“He deserves it,” Willie Bridges, a retired Clayton firefighter, told The N&O. “They’re going to miss him. He was a good man. We’ve just got to take care of ourselves with this COVID-19.”
200,000 masks to be delivered monthly through NC collaboration
A North Carolina-based group plans to make and deliver 200,000 masks each month to health care workers.
Made in NC is using textile technology from N.C. State University to make N95 masks available as the coronavirus continues its spread. Collaborators include “the state’s largest insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, along with UNC Health, NC State’s Nonwovens Institute and Freudenberg Performance Materials,” The News & Observer reported Monday.
“We are all working together toward a common goal of protecting those who continue to protect the people and communities across our state,” Tunde Sotunde, Blue Cross NC CEO, said in a statement.
The announcement comes after hospitals early in the pandemic created stockpiles of N95 masks, which prevent 95% of particles or more from entering a person’s mouth or nose.
Federal unemployment benefits shortened
Federal unemployment benefits will be available for only six weeks starting Oct. 10.
The Extended Benefits program currently provides benefits for 9.6 weeks, but that timeframe is decreasing due to a decline in North Carolina’s unemployment rate, which fell from 8.5% in July to 6.5% in August.
The program is available to those who have exhausted their regular benefits. Those who have used 12 weeks of state unemployment benefits, the maximum allowed in North Carolina, and 13 weeks of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation may be eligible.
The change will also decrease the maximum number of weeks a person is eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to 39 from 42.6 weeks.
The program’s duration is tied to the number of weeks allowed under state benefits. North Carolina and Florida have the shortest regular benefit timeframes in the country.
Lawsuits filed over NC’s mail-in voting rules
With more people than usual expected to vote by mail this year due to the coronavirus, several lawsuits have challenged parts of North Carolina election laws.
“From absentee voting rules to photo ID, voter fraud safeguards, felon voting rights and important election deadlines, many important and last-minute changes to the 2020 elections either have just recently happened or could still come down in the next several weeks,” The News & Observer reported Monday.
President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee on Saturday sued the N.C. Board of Elections to block mail-in ballot rule changes that could increase the number of such ballots counted.
The state Board of Elections announced Tuesday that voters who make mistakes on their mail-in ballots will have an easier way to fix them and that it extended the amount of time mail-in ballots can come in after Election Day and still be counted, The News & Observer reported. The changes were part of a lawsuit settlement with a political group representing retirees.
Previously, mail-in ballots wouldn’t be counted unless they were postmarked on or before election day and received by election officials within three days. Now, the deadline for receiving ballots would be Nov. 12 — giving them nearly an extra week.
The new lawsuit claims the rule changes will allow absentee ballots to be cast late and without witness verification.
Significantly more people are expected to vote by mail this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. As of Friday, the number of absentee ballots cast in the state already topped the total from the 2016 presidential election, when fewer than 200,000 residents voted by mail.
As of Sunday, more than 1 million North Carolinians had requested mail-in ballots and as of Monday morning, 248,400 had cast a mail-in ballot, The N&O reports.
Trump and other Republicans have long been saying — without evidence — that increased mail-in voting will lead to fraud and hurt his chances of re-election.
The new lawsuit comes after the Board of Elections leader said the two Republican members who stepped down weren’t telling the truth and shared documents he said will support those claims. Ken Raymond and David Black resigned on Wednesday, citing concerns about the lawsuit settlement.
“Two members of our board resigned their seats, claiming they were misled and did not have all the information,” said Damon Circosta, chair of the N.C. State Board of Elections. “This is not true.”
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 6:54 AM.
