Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Oct. 17
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 243,000
At least 243,725 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,929 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Saturday reported 2,102 new COVID-19 cases, down from 2,684
the day before.
Nineteen coronavirus-related deaths were reported Saturday.
About 6.6% of tests were reported positive on Saturday, up from 6.3% on Wednesday, the most recent previous day for which data are available. That’s higher than the 5% target set by health officials.
At least 1,140 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Saturday, down eight people from Friday.
Recent daily hospitalization counts are the highest they have been since August.
UNC Charlotte testing students in dorms
All students in three dorms at UNC Charlotte with confirmed COVID-19 cases are now being tested, university officials said Friday.
Officials would not name the dorms but said it was a “proactive” measure to prevent the spread of the virus. There are currently no coronavirus clusters in any of UNC Charlotte’s residence halls, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The students have been told not to leave their buildings until they’ve been tested and meals will be delivered.
Duke reports first COVID-19 cluster
Nine Duke University undergraduate students living at an apartment complex off campus have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials announced Friday.
The students live at the Solis Apartments on Main Street and tested positive Oct. 7.
Mike Schoenfeld, Duke’s chief communications officer and vice president for public affairs and government relations, said they are “doing well.”
“All of our systems worked the way they were supposed to — the initial case was identified through surveillance testing, contact tracing was activated, students in the friend group were placed in quarantine,” Schoenfeld said.
Duke has reported a total of 107 COVID-19 cases since August, including three employees. Ninety-two of those cases were cleared to return to campus, The News & Observer reported. A “cluster” is defined as five or more cases tied to a specific event or location.
Residents urged to respond to contact tracers
Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said North Carolinians aren’t responding to calls from the health department’s contact tracers tasked with finding people who have potentially been exposed to the coronavirus.
“We are hearing numerous reports from our health departments of people refusing to share information and contacts of people they may have exposed to this virus,” Cohen said during a news briefing Thursday.
About half of the people called don’t answer, she said.
Contact tracers communicate with residents by phone, text or email, The News & Observer reported. Phone calls show up as the phone number for the local health department, or the words NC OUTREACH. Text messages will come from the number 45394, and emails will be sent by he email address NC-ARIAS-NoReply@dhhs.nc.gov.
Contact tracers will leave a voicemail if you don’t answer with a number to call back.
HBCU president dies after COVID-19 infection
The president of St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh died after contracting the coronavirus.
About 100 people gathered at the campus Friday to mourn Irving McPhail. He died of COVID-19 complications just months after joining the historically Black school in July.
“It is important to note that he did not contract the virus in the SAU community,” the school said in a letter on Oct. 12. “We continue to take all precautions to ensure that our SAU community remains safe.”
Judge denies NC donor’s request to delay prison after COVID-19 vaccine
A businessman at the center of a North Carolina corruption scandal was ordered to go to prison after his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to delay his time behind bars.
Greg Lindberg, 50, was convicted in March of promising millions of dollars in campaign donations in a bribe of state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.
“Citing their client’s age and a pre-existing medical condition — sleep apnea — the defense team argued that Lindberg was a greater risk to contract a severe case of COVID-19 while in prison and should not have to report until a coronavirus vaccine is found,” The Charlotte Observer reported Friday.
A judge denied the request, and Lindberg on Tuesday is expected to report for his more than at seven-year sentence FPC-Montgomery, a prison camp in Alabama.
In addition, Lindberg appealed his conviction and asked a judge to delay jail time so he could help out with the appeal. His lawyers have also “argued that he should remain free on safety grounds,” the Observer reported.
UNC study finds coronavirus strain in swine could move to humans
A coronavirus strain that has made pigs sick has the potential to infect humans and devastate the pork industry, North Carolina researchers found.
The UNC study examined swine acute diarrhea syndrome, a virus that started impacting Chinese pigs in 2016 and is also known as SADS-CoV, according to findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The strain caused the swine to develop gastrointestinal symptoms and 90% of infected piglets to die.
“The virus, which has not been detected in the United States, is in the same family as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19,” The News & Observer reported Friday.
Though the findings were presented before COVID-19 hit the United States, they underscore the need for addressing coronaviruses.
“The most likely way for the virus to move to humans would be through contact such as between workers and animals at hog farms,” which are prevalent in North Carolina, according to the N&O.
This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 8:44 AM.
