Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Oct. 7
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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 222,000
At least 222,969 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,693 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday reported 1,711 new COVID-19 cases, up from 1,504 the day before.
Twenty-three deaths were added to the total on Wednesday.
About 6.4% of tests were reported positive on Monday, the most recent day that data are available. That’s down from 7.9% the day before, but still higher than the recommended 5% by health officials.
At least 1,028 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday, up from 998 the day before. Tuesday’s preliminary hospitalization total was listed as 1,013, which would have made it the first time since Aug. 21 that hospitalizations topped 1,000.
Vaccine should be separate from politics, specialist says
A health specialist at UNC-Chapel Hill cautioned against the vaccine for COVID-19 being used as “campaign fodder” during a UNC Health media briefing held via Zoom on Wednesday.
“It’s one of the sorrier stories of this pandemic,” said Dr. David Wohl, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the UNC School of Medicine.
President Donald Trump has said a vaccine will be ready by Election Day on Nov. 3, but FDA guidelines approved by the White House this week make that unlikely, The News & Observer reported.
In the meantime, people’s willingness to get a vaccine if one were approved has dropped.
About 130 people have enrolled in Phase 3 of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine trial at UNC as of Wednesday, Wohl said. The goal is to have 200.
COVID-19 is third-leading cause of death in Charlotte
The coronavirus is on track to be the third-leading cause of death in Mecklenburg County in 2020.
Only cancer and heart disease have it beat, The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday.
Health department data show 365 people in Mecklenburg County have died from COVID-19 as of Wednesday, following a spike in fatalities in August and September. An average of two to three people were dying per day at that time.
The county is also reporting 13% more deaths in the first half of 2020 compared to 2019, Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said Tuesday.
“Half of that 13% can be accounted for with COVID deaths...” she said.
“(It’s) a little bit of a sobering thought for us. This is the first time in decades that we’ve had an infectious disease in the top 10 causes of death in this county.”
Contact-tracing app hits 100,000 downloads
North Carolina’s COVID-19 exposure app, SlowCOVIDNC, has been downloaded more than 100,000 times since it was released two weeks ago.
But Sam Gibbs says that’s not the measure they care about.
Gibbs is the deputy secretary for technology and operations at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. He told The News & Observer Wednesday they’re targeting the app at specific populations.
“It is not an overall number (of downloads) we are looking for — we are trying to get concentrations in places that” are at high risk, Gibbs told The N&O in a phone interview.
A large majority of the current downloads have been among college-aged students, where many clusters were reported in August. According to Gibbs, that’s by design.
“What was attractive with that is early on the largest spreads were in congregate living,” he said. “What do colleges have? Dorms. The universities were very keen on getting significant numbers on the app.”
The app will notify users when they’ve possibly been exposed to the virus by using Bluetooth technology.
“Bluetooth signal strength is recorded on your phone to estimate the distance between phones, so it can track when exposure to another phone meets the definition of close contact — six feet or closer for at least 15 minutes,” The N&O reported. “If you become COVID-19 positive, and report it to the app via a PIN provided by your local health department, SlowCOVIDNC will tell others if they were exposed a certain number days ago.”
Lowe’s gives another $100 million in COVID-19 bonuses
Lowe’s Home Improvement announced another round of coronavirus bonuses for its emloyees on Wednesday during the pandemic.
They include $300 bonuses for full-time hourly workers and $150 bonuses for part-time and seasonal employees due to be dispensed Oct. 16, The Charlotte Observer reported. The bonuses mirror similar efforts in March, May, July and August.
The Mooresville-based company has now doled out $775 million to workers and communities since the start of the pandemic in March.
UNC leads the way on race for vaccine
UNC-Chapel Hill is one of 89 testing sites for Moderna’s Phase 3 clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine, in which 30,000 people are expected to participate across the board.
“The biggest motivator is that people are taking a vaccine not for themselves but for their loved ones,” said Dr. Cindy Gay, who leads a team of infectious disease experts administering the trial at UNC. “I had a working mom who enrolled in the study, she’s trying to do her job and homeschool her kids.”
One of the participants in the phase 2 trial include Louise Stephenson, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill whose roommate was infected with the virus, The News & observer reported. Stephenson tested negative four times.
“I’m optimistic about it,” she said. “My only fear is that it’s just a lot of wasted time.”
According to Gay, people who have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 are preferable vaccine trial participants, such as minorities and the elderly. Moderna recently slowed enrollment to ensure communities of color were better represented.
“I would rather we have higher diverse participants and take one extra week,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said. “Diversity matters more to us than speed.”
NC fairgrounds to bring another chance to get fried food
The N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh announced it will offer deep-fried favorites later this month.
Though this year’s state fair is canceled due to the pandemic, vendors will dish out foods from Oct. 15 to 25.
The menu of more than 100 to-go items will be available for those who enter at Gate 9 off Trinity Road from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., The News & Observer reported Wednesday.
Drive-thru food events have been held at the fairgrounds since May.
“We just know that everyone misses their fair food,” spokesperson Sarah Ray said. “We’ve had so many calls about how much everyone is bummed the fair can’t happen this year.”
Coronavirus postpones App State football game
Appalachian State University on Wednesday announced it is postponing its next football game due to COVID-19.
The game against Georgia Southern University, originally scheduled for Oct. 14, is now set for Dec. 12.
The Mountaineers last week announced their game against Louisiana-Lafayette was pushed back due to positive COVID-19 “tests and contact tracing,” The Charlotte Observer reported.
“All active COVID-19 cases are recovering in isolation, according to the school’s news release, and close contacts who have been identified through contact tracing are required to quarantine,” the Observer reported.
Brewery event attendees urged to get tested
After at least two coronavirus cases have been linked to a Charlotte event, officials say attendees should consider getting tested for COVID-19.
“Very few masks” and “very little social distancing” were at Mecktoberfest, said Gibbie Harris, Mecklenburg County public health director.
Thousands of people were drawn to the celebration from Sept. 25 to Sept. 27, Harris told county commissioners on Tuesday. Olde Meckleburg Brewery hosts the annual event.
“We are in compliance with the latest statewide mandate concerning masks and we ask that our guests wear their mask inside the Brauhaus (unless you’re at your table) and whenever you are ordering beer and food (inside and outside),” the brewery’s website said, according to The Charlotte Observer. “All of our tables are appropriately spaced and there is plenty of room to spread out, relax and enjoy a fresh, cold beer.”
Mecklenburg County shared information about the event as the percentage of people who tested positive for the virus is lower than originally reported. Health officials have started to remove test results from those who live outside the county but went to Charlotte-area testing centers, data show.
As of Wednesday, this week’s average positivity rate was 5.5%, just above state health officials’ goal of 5%, the Observer reported.
Also in the Charlotte area, the coronavirus may become the third-leading cause of death this year in Mecklenburg County.
While at least 365 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the region, Harris said additional deaths may be linked to people who avoid seeking medical help due to concerns about the disease.
If COVID-19 becomes one of the top causes of death, it would trail behind cancer and heart disease.
Wake teachers warn against reopening schools
Dozens of teachers greeted the Wake County School Board on Tuesday during its first in-person meeting since March with signs warning that reopening schools could needlessly endanger the lives of educators and students.
The board voted last week to let elementary and middle school students return for in-person instruction on Oct. 26.
“It’s heartbreaking for me as a teacher because I want to see my students so badly in person and they’re really struggling,” Ginny Clayton, an English As A Second Language teacher at Clayton High School, told The News & Observer. “But that’s not the criteria for coming back to school, it’s safety. We ultimately have to do what’s right by our kids by keeping them safe.”
Some of the protesters were accompanied by their children, including one who held a sign up that read “Why aren’t you protecting my mom! I’m not ok with her being sacrificed.”
Parents previously protested the schools staying closed, saying the reopening process was taking too long and urging the board to let students return, according to The N&O.
Third grade teacher dies from the coronavirus
Julie Davis, a 49-year-old third grade teacher at Norwood Elementary School in Stanly County, died Sunday after a less than 10-day battle with the coronavirus.
Davis had taught third and fourth graders for 17 years at various schools in North Carolina, including Page Street Elementary School in the Montgomery County town of Troy, N.C., the Charlotte Observer reported.
The school district and county health officials deny she contracted the virus at school. Stan Andrews, Davis’s brother, says the opposite.
“I said to her, ‘Julie, where did you get it?’” he told the Observer. “She said, ‘I got it at school. There was a student that had it.’”
Davis woke up with a headache on Friday, Sept. 26 and went to get tested for COVID-19. Her test results came back positive two days later. By Wednesday, she was hospitalized at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.
The doctors were able to get some of her symptoms — a fever, vomiting and dehydration — under control. But she developed a cough that night and was having trouble breathing. They put her on a BiPAP machine on Oct. 1, the Observer reported.
Davis was put on a ventilator at 1 a.m. Sunday. She died two hours later. According to her brother, the teacher had no underlying conditions but was overweight.
She was also passionate about her job, and resolute in her decision to return to school when Stanly County announced elementary students could return full-time.
“She was nervous,” her brother said. “But it was her job, and she was gonna do it.”
Cooper stresses COVID-19 ‘is not over’
Gov. Roy Cooper expressed frustration Tuesday over reports of large gatherings in Washington, D.C., where guests haven’t been wearing masks or properly socially distancing, telling North Carolinians to stay vigilant.
“This thing is not over,” he said during a news conference. “You can see what happens when those things occur, even when there’s testing going on.”
It was Cooper’s first news conference since the state reopened bars, movie theaters and other businesses on Friday as part of Phase 3 of lifting coronavirus-related restrictions.
But his warning comes as hospitalizations in the state spike, and he cautioned things could get worse later this fall and into the winter, The News & Observer reported. Cooper also emphasized getting students back in school and boosting the economy.
“You don’t do that by pretending that the pandemic doesn’t exist and you don’t do it by acting like it’s not gonna hurt anybody,” he said. “When in actuality, we know that it has killed over 3,600 North Carolinians and over 210,000 Americans. So we all need to work together.”
At least 18 people — including President Donald Trump, who has downplayed the severity of the virus, and N.C. Sen. Thom Tillis — have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 7:40 AM.
