Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Nov. 2
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 278,000
At least 278,028 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 4,390 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday reported 1,336 new COVID-19 cases, down from 2,057 the day before.
The seven-day new case average on Monday was 2,327, a drop from a record of 2,370 on Sunday.
Seven coronavirus-related deaths were reported Monday.
About 6.2% of tests were reported positive as of Saturday, the latest day for which data is available. That’s higher than the 5% target set by health officials.
At least 1,146 people in North Carolina were reportedly hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday, up from 1,138 the day before. Sunday’s preliminary hospitalization total was reported as 1,122.
Three Wake County schools report new cases
Three schools in Wake County reported new COVID-19 cases on Monday.
Principals at Carnage Middle School in Raleigh, Wakefield Middle School in Raleigh and Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina told families “people associated with their schools had tested positive for” the virus, The News & Observer reported. That brings the total number of cases to 15 across 12 schools in the district.
All three schools said the person or people who tested positive had been on campus some time last week. They did not say whether the cases were among students or employees.
Some schools have reported multiple cases from people living in the same household.
ECU furloughs 100 workers
East Carolina University announced Monday it’s furloughing 100 housing and dining employees because of revenue losses associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
The university reportedly lost millions when it shut classrooms and dorms in August and swapped to remote instruction.
“Across campus, the reduced demand for employee services and such a large disruption to revenue has again forced an institutional response,” Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson said in a statement. “We continue to have to make hard decisions regarding the financial future for our university.”
He said there may be additional furloughs before the end of the fiscal year in June 2021.
Some 257,000 lost health insurance over pandemic job cuts
A new report in the North Carolina Medical Journal estimates 257,000 people across the state lost their health insurance during the first six months of the coronavirus pandemic because of job cuts.
North Carolina had one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the country last year with 11.4% of the population lacking health insurance, The News & Observer reported. The national average is 9.2%.
According to the new report, there’s been an estimated increase of 3% in the uninsured rate statewide during the pandemic.
“We have seen a change in people being laid off from jobs, not knowing if they’re going to go back to a job. Even with our patients that are working but maybe not working enough to qualify for health insurance, there’s uncertainty with even being able to get basic medications— insulin particularly,” Elizabeth Campbell, medical director of Urban Ministries, told The N&O.
Recent surveys by the U.S. Census show non-white people are uninsured at disproportionately high rates.
Enrollment in Medicaid, meanwhile, has increased in North Carolina. But many uninsured people across the state aren’t eligible to enroll under the current eligibility structure. The N&O reported “hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians living in and near poverty cannot qualify for health coverage through Medicaid.”
Elementary students in Mecklenburg return to school
About 39,000 elementary school students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are doing in-person instruction as of Monday — the largest group of students in the district to return to the classroom since the pandemic began in March.
The K-5 students are divided into two rotations with half going to school on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half coming on Thursdays and Fridays. The return of students in older grades is staggered throughout the end of the year, the Charlotte Observer reported.
“I have kids back in the building, the hallways are filled with their little feet and noises,” said Principal Rebecca Crawford of Dilworth Elementary School’s Latta Campus. “It’s a really exciting time to have them back with us.”
An additional 23,500 students in grades K-5 opted to continue learning online as part of the remote academy.
Chief school performance officer Kathy Elling said 32 schools in the district have reported at least one positive case of COVID-19 over the last two weeks, but there have been no clusters since CMS reopened for in-person learning a month ago for students with special needs and pre-K students.
Triangle courthouse to restart jury trials during pandemic
Hundreds of people are expected to come to downtown Raleigh as Wake County resumes jury trials this month.
The county plans to restart jury trials on Nov. 16, becoming the first in the Triangle to do so. Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, will resume jury trials the same day.
“District attorneys say it could take a year or two to catch up on the backlog in the system, in which delays can benefit those accused of crimes as witnesses move on,” The News & Observer reported Monday.
Wake has sent about 2,000 jury summons, with some citing higher coronavirus risks in their deferrals. During trials, social distancing and other precautions will be in place.
Closures can impact Wake, which has jury trials more frequently than smaller counties. Chatham, Durham and Orange counties hope to bring the trials back next year.
Lawsuit filed over checks for parents
An estimated 200,000 low-income households in North Carolina were excluded from the state’s Extra Credit grant program — which gives $335 checks to families to help offset costs related to COVID-19 — due to a “discriminatory, irrational and unconstitutional process” for distributing the funds, a lawsuit says.
The checks will automatically be sent to more than 1 million middle- and upper-income families with children in order to help with school or child care costs. But families with annual incomes between $10,000 and $20,000 who did not file tax returns in 2019 were required to apply by Oct. 15 to get a check.
The state hopes to disperse some $440 million by Dec. 15.
Tens of thousands of families, however, missed the deadline and only 1 in 14 low-income households in North Carolina are set to receive the checks, the suit says.
Attorneys filed the suit on behalf of the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Legal Aid of North Carolina and three low-income families. It names the state Revenue Department and Revenue Secretary Ronald Penny as defendants.
The suit was filed in Wake County courts and asks that the state Department of Revenue be ordered to extend the filing deadline while it comes up with a better plan for getting the checks to families in need.
Homeless shelter reports 18 cases
A Durham homeless shelter has reported 18 COVID-19 cases among residents and staff.
Staff at the Urban Ministries of Durham learned Monday that a resident had tested positive for the virus. The resident was moved to an isolated location, officials say.
An additional 16 residents — who will also be moved to an isolated location — and one staff member subsequently tested positive. Staff disinfected the shelter, which was also scheduled to be professionally cleaned Saturday.
In July, three cases were reported among the shelter’s residents when they were living in the Marriott at Research Triangle Park.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 6:31 AM.
