Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Oct. 2
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 214,000
At least 214,684 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,608 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday reported 1,775 new COVID-19 cases, down from 2,277 the day before. Thursday’s daily confirmed case total had been the highest since July 30.
Twenty-nine deaths were reported Friday.
About 5.8% of tests were reported positive on Wednesday, the most recent date for which data is available. That’s above health officials’ goal of 5% or lower
At least 921 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, a drop from 939 reported the day before.
Chapel Hill cancels events for rest of the year
The town of Chapel Hill has canceled all public events and festivals through the end of 2020 — including Halloween on Franklin Street, officials announced Friday.
Halloween has historically drawn huge crowds to the college town. As many as 40,000 people once filled the streets, The News & Observer reported.
Officials said the risk of such large public gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic was too great.
“We know Halloween on Franklin Street is a beloved annual gathering for so many in our community, but crowds greater than 50 people go against the current public health guidance,” said police Chief Chris Blue in a statement.
The Festifall Arts Festival, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade and Chapel Hillidays will also be canceled as a result.
Trump was in Charlotte before testing positive for COVID-19
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, about a week after the president visited a warehouse near the Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Sept. 24, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The White House has not contacted Mecklenburg County health officials, Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said Friday.
But Dr. Katie Passaretti said people are more likely to spread the virus in the 48 hours before they start showing symptoms.
“I wouldn’t expect that there’s any increased risk for the Charlotte event last week,” she said in an Atrium Health video. “… President Trump, who’s very recently showing signs of infection, was unlikely to have been contagious over a week ago when he was in Charlotte.”
Trump did not wear a mask during his visit, the Observer reported, but officials also said the president did not come into the airport and landed at a private hanger. About 200 doctors and medical personnel attended the event in a nearby warehouse.
Judge approves absentee ballot settlement
Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins signed off on a settlement Friday that changes how absentee ballots will be handled during the 2020 election.
The settlement is a compromise between the State Board of Elections and a political group representing retirees that sued over North Carolina’s rules for mail-in voting last month, The News & Observer reported.
Under the terms of the deal, the elections board will accept mail-in ballots up to nine days after the general election as long as they are postmarked by 5 p.m. Nov. 3. Voters who are missing a witness signature or address on the ballot will be allowed to fix it without filing a new one.
Collins said the agreement “was fair and reasonable and not illegal or a product of collusion,” according to The N&O.
NC candidate video on Trump sparks backlash
A video about President Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis posted by the Democratic candidate for state Agriculture Commissioner has drawn backlash in North Carolina.
The video was posted on TikTok by Jenna Wadsworth, the Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, The News & Observer reported.
It has since been taken down.
In the video, Wadsworth asked viewers, “On a scale of one to 10, is this your favorite or most favorite October surprise in the history of electoral politics?” She also posted the video on Twitter, saying “Got that big OCTOBER SURPRISE energy up in here tonight!”
Wadsworth and her campaign didn’t respond to the N&O on Friday, but she later wrote on Twitter that she “would never wish harm on anyone with this illness.”
Incumbent commissioner Republican Steve Troxler said the video displays “youth and inexperience, and it also shows a character flaw.” Brent Woodcox, a Republican attorney who works at the state legislature, called it “utterly disgusting and should be disqualifying or any statewide candidate.”
The N.C. Democratic Party also said the video was “inappropriate” in a statement Friday.
“The sentiments in the video were not appropriate, and we’re pleased it has been taken down,” the statement said. “We join Vice President Biden in sending our best wishes to the Trump family for a quick recovery.”
NC cafe closes as precaution after Trump tests positive
A North Carolina eatery that President Donald Trump’s daughter visited is temporarily shutting down after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Ivanka Trump went to Holy Angels’ cafe on Thursday, the day before her father announced he and first lady Melania Trump had been infected, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Holy Angels, a Belmont-based nonprofit, closed the cafe and two other sites as a precaution, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday.
“While our protocols have always exceeded the CDC Guidelines, we want to ensure the safety of our employees and customers,” the organization said.
The White House on Friday said Ivanka Trump tested negative for the virus, though it’s unclear when she was tested.
Virus found in UNC Charlotte dorm wastewater
The virus that causes COVID-19 was detected in wastewater from a residence hall at UNC Charlotte, according to the university.
Officials on Friday didn’t reveal the name of the dorm, citing the privacy of those who live there, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday.
The school said no residents have coronavirus symptoms and that the virus was found during a routine sampling procedure. Officials said studies have shown wastewater can detect a coronavirus outbreak before symptoms appear.
Charlotte school district sees fewer students; modifies reopening plan
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has seen an enrollment decline of almost 5,000 students, an unprecedented drop.
While state funding is typically linked to enrollment figures, the N.C. General Assembly passed legislation that “holds school districts harmless for the drop in enrollment this year, due to anticipated declines caused by COVID-19,” The Charlotte Observer reported.
The enrollment figures come as the school board on Thursday approved a modified reopening plan.
Compared to the original plan passed last month, elementary students will spend more time in in-person classes but won’t be going back to learning full-time on campuses.
“Meanwhile, middle and high school grades will continue with the rotational schedule, spending one week in in-person learning and two weeks in remote learning,” the Observer reported.
Barbecue restaurant at center of mask controversy
An iconic Eastern North Carolina barbecue restaurant has made news this week over a coronavirus-related controversy.
A customer complained earlier this week about employees not wearing masks at Parker’s Barbecue in Wilson, and supporters formed a Facebook group soon after, The News & Observer reports. Supporters in the group, which has grown to 24,000 members, plan to meet at the restaurant for lunch Saturday, and many are vowing not to wear masks.
Face coverings have been required in public in North Carolina since July.
Teresa Ellen, the Wilson County health department director, told The N&O that the department has received multiple complaints of coronavirus-related violations regarding Parker’s.
Kent Glover of Wilson told The N&O that it’s inevitable the community would rally around the restaurant.
“Parker’s has always been an icon,” Glover said. “People are going to rally around Parker’s for sure. The guys always do a good job.”
The health department encourages people attending the gathering Saturday to follow guidelines.
“As a public health representative, I’m going to promote that everyone remain six feet apart, wear masks and practice good hygiene,” Ellen said. “We’re supportive of all our restaurants. We’re here to provide guidance.”
NC changes mail-in ballot procedures
The North Carolina Board of Elections on Thursday changed its procedure for handling absentee ballots without a signature until legal confusion is sorted out after a federal judge blasted the process.
U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen on Wednesday wrote that the board has “re-written the one-witness requirement, a statute this court previously upheld, to permit submission of an absentee ballot without a witness.” He said the change “undermines” and “in effect eliminates” the state legislature’s interest in preventing fraud.
The board introduced the new process as part of a proposed settlement over a mail-in voting lawsuit. Elections officials under the changed rule would contact voters who submitted ballots without witness signatures and allow them to sign forms confirming their identity.
Before, voters who left the witness section blank would have to submit a new absentee ballot.
Though some elected officials say the witness requirement can protect against election fraud, several lawsuits contend finding a signature can be a burden during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Osteen ordered those involved in the lawsuit to come to court “at the earliest possible date,” The N&O reported.
Now, the state Board of Election says it will set aside ballots that arrive without a witness signature and won’t approve or reject them until judges weigh in further. It also sent county boards the new instructions.
Two NC schools temporarily close
Two North Carolina high schools — Hillside High in Durham and Crest High in Cleveland County — have shut down due to COVID-19 concerns.
Hillside High School will reopen Friday after a “probable” coronavirus case, The N&O reported.
It marks the fifth time the virus has forced Durham Public Schools to temporarily close a facility, The News & Observer reported Thursday.
While no one is thought to have transmitted COVID-19 at the district’s schools, a Hillside employee present for SAT testing on Saturday likely contracted the virus. Officials will identify anyone who may have been near the worker during the exam.
Crest High in Shelby, about 45 miles west of Charlotte, has multiple confirmed cases and plans to reopen Oct. 15, The Charlotte Observer reports.
The cases involve “persons at Crest High School as well as several employees/students awaiting test results,” Cleveland County Schools Superintendent Stephen Fisher told parents Wednesday.
Unemployment rates fall across NC
Unemployment rates decreased in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties between July and August.
The Triangle and Mecklenburg County reported the lowest unemployment rates since the start of the pandemic.
In the Triangle, the unemployment rate fell to 6.1% in August from 8% in July and a peak of 11.3% in May. August’s rate is the lowest it’s been in the area since March, when it was 3.8%.
Mecklenburg County’s rate fell to 7.6% in August, down more than two percentage points from July and the lowest it’s been since April.
The statewide rate also fell from 8.5% in July to 6.5% in August.
But those numbers in part represent a drop in the workforce overall, as unemployment numbers only include those actively looking for work. The seasonally adjusted workforce shrank from 4,897,607 to 4,825,921 between July and August, a decline of more than 70,000 people, or 1.5%.
Some warn the improvements are temporary.
“We’re not out of the woods yet and we have been and are being held up artificially in a lot of ways by federal dollars and other public dollars,” Henry McKoy, a professor at North Carolina Central University School of Business and former N.C. assistant secretary of Commerce, told The News & Observer.
Phase 3 of reopening starts Friday
Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday announced North Carolina will enter Phase 3 of his reopening plan at 5 p.m. Friday.
The phase will allow more businesses in the state to reopen. Bars will be allowed to operate outdoors at 30% capacity or 100 customers, whichever is less. All patrons must be wearing face masks when not actively eating or drinking, and alcohol sales must end at 11 p.m.
Bar owners and others held a rally in Charlotte on Thursday to protest the outdoor-only seating requirement, which The North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association, an industry advocacy group, has called “pointless.”
Organizers of the “Save Our Bars Charlotte” rally urged leaders to stand up for bars they say are “being forced out of existence.”
Meanwhile, movie theaters can reopen with 30% capacity or 100 people, whichever is less. Outdoor amusement parks can also reopen at 30%, but indoor amusement parks must remain closed. Outdoor entertainment venues with capacities greater than 10,000 can reopen at 7% capacity. Smaller outdoor venues can reopen at 30% capacity or 100 guests, whichever is less.
Limits on gatherings remain at 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors.
The phase will remain in effect until 5 p.m. Oct. 23.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 7:31 AM.
