Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Oct. 5
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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 219,000
At least 219,754 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,637 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday reported 2,258 new COVID-19 cases, up from 610 the day before. Monday’s new cases included unreported numbers from Sunday, when health officials said not all of the data could be processed because of a technical error.
Sunday’s single-day case total had been the lowest since mid-August.
Three deaths were also added to the total on Monday.
About 6.4% of tests were reported positive as of Saturday, the most recent day that data are available. That’s above health officials’ goal of 5% or lower.
At least 971 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 Sunday, up from 907 the day before.
In the Triangle, the percentage of positive tests in Durham, Orange and Wake counties was under 5%. “Hispanic people are over represented among cases” in the area, and “Black people continue to account for a disproportionately high percentage of COVID-19 deaths, The News & Observer reported Sunday.
Tillis free of COVID-19 symptoms
Sen. Thom Tillis is free of coronavirus symptoms after announcing Friday he tested positive for the virus.
He will continue to quarantine at home in Huntersville, The News & Observer reported.
“Senator Tillis feels great and has regained his sense of taste and smell,” the statement read. “He is no longer exhibiting any symptoms and will continue to self-isolate. Senator Tillis and his wife Susan remain grateful for the outpouring of prayers and well wishes they’ve received from North Carolinians.”
Tillis announced Friday night that he tested positive for COVID-19 and will self-quarantine for two weeks. He said Saturday night he had mild symptoms but no fever. None of his campaign staff or his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus.
In the days before receiving the positive result, Tillis debated Democratic opponent Cal Cunningham, attended meet and greets and round tables in North Carolina and met with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and voted on the Senate floor in Washington, D.C.
His positive test came after news broke that President Donald Trump has COVID-19.
Cunningham, however, has tested negative for the coronavirus, his campaign announced Saturday. He was expected to be tested again Monday, according to The N&O.
Betsy DeVos visits Raleigh
U. S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos promoted school choice during the coronavirus pandemic on a visit to Raleigh on Monday.
The visit comes as President Donald Trump and other members of the White House cope with a COVID-19 outbreak.
DeVos spoke at a round table discussion hosted by Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina. She spoke about expanding programs that use taxpayer funds to pay tuition for families at private schools, pointing to the “challenges that families across the nation have faced since the coronavirus pandemic caused public schools to switch from in-person instruction to online learning,” The News & Observer reported.
The secretary was tested Friday after Trump’s diagnosis was made public, and the results were negative, her spokesperson said. Attendees at the event Monday wore masks and were properly socially distanced, according to the N&O.
Some movie theaters to close after reopening in NC
Days after movie theaters were allowed to reopen in North Carolina, one chain is temporarily closing its cinemas nationwide.
Regal, which said last week that it was reopening 13 locations across the state, is shutting down all its facilities on Thursday.
“Parent company Cineworld said the closings are due to studios being reluctant to release new films and because major U.S. markets like New York remain closed without a reopening timeline,” The Charlotte Observer reported Monday.
The closures come after the state entered Phase 3 of lifting coronavirus-related restrictions on Friday. Movie theaters and other entertainment venues were allowed to operate for the first time since March, with limited capacity.
Positive test shuts down Wake Forest fire station
A fire station in Wake Forest is temporarily closed after a firefighter working there tested positive for COVID-19, the town announced Saturday.
Fire Station #2 is being cleaned and sanitized and everyone working there has been sent home to self-isolate, according to the town, The News & Observer reported Sunday. The fire department is also contact tracing to determine who else may have been exposed to the virus.
The case will not disrupt fire services in the town, officials say.
Wake Forest is about 17 miles from Raleigh.
In August, nearby Clayton Fire Department also saw a COVID-19 outbreak. Seventeen firefighters tested positive, and the outbreak led to two deaths.
Charlotte nightclub shut down for COVID-19 violations
El Centenario Night Club in University City had its alcohol permits suspended late Saturday for repeatedly violating the state’s coronavirus-related restrictions, officials say.
Social media posts showed large crowds and a lack of social distancing, according to North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission documents.
The private club has been cited several times since May. ABC commission documents said it continued to allow crowds inside to exceed 300 people with no social distancing or sanitation practices. Customers were not wearing masks. The club also violated the state’s 11 p.m. alcohol sales curfew.
James Kevin Galyan, the club’s owner, told ALE agents he needed to reopen to pay his bills.
Bars had been prohibited from opening since March, but on Friday were allowed to reopen under Phase 3 with outdoor seating only and at 30% capacity or 100 people, whichever is less.
But some bars in the state didn’t open over the weekend, either to get their plans in place or because the restrictions make doing so still impossible.
“It’s a very small step in the right direction,” Zack Medford, who owns several bars in downtown Raleigh, told The News & Observer. “Unfortunately the way things stand it’s not viable for us right now. It’s not as simple as unlocking the doors and saying come on out.”
Judge blocks elections settlement
A federal judge on Saturday placed a temporary restraining order on the N.C. Board of Elections settlement that came out of Wake County Superior Court on Friday and changed state election laws.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins on Friday signed off on a settlement that changes how absentee ballots are 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 settlement, 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 called the agreement “fair and reasonable and not illegal or a product of collusion,” The N&O reports.
The restraining order issued Saturday is in place until Oct. 16. The case will be transferred to U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen in the Middle District of North Carolina.
Significantly more people than usual are expected to vote by mail this year due to the pandemic. As of Saturday, more than 1.1 million people had requested absentee ballots and more than 340,000 had been cast.
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 7:56 AM.
