Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Nov. 30
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Hospitalizations hit record
At least 364,512 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 5,261 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday reported 2,734 new COVID-19 cases, down from 3,820 reported the day before. Sunday’s daily total had been the seventh-highest since the start of the pandemic.
The numbers highlight a surge of new cases in November. The state averaged fewer than 2,000 new cases a day in October.
Twenty-one additional deaths were reported Monday.
At least 1,966 people in North Carolina were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday, the third consecutive day of all-time highs.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed the way states count COVID-19 hospitalizations, which contributed to an increase in the state’s numbers by more than 10% on Nov. 13, The News & Observer reported. Daily hospitalizations have continued to rise since then.
About 9.5% of tests were reported positive as of Saturday, the latest day for which data are available. That’s above the 5% target set by health officials and increased the seven-day average to 7.8%.
49ers cancel game
UNC Charlotte canceled its football game Tuesday against Western Kentucky, which was been postponed Saturday in the hopes that enough 49ers would be eligible to compete.
This is the fourth straight week the team hasn’t played because of the coronavirus, the Charlotte Observer reported.
“We had high hopes that we would be able to play,” 49ers’ athletics director Mike Hill said.
The 49ers haven’t played since Halloween at Duke University. Their next scheduled game is Saturday against Florida International, but officials have said it will depend on both programs’ testing results later in the week.
Local officials test positive for COVID-19
The Pitt County public health director and the Rockingham County sheriff have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Dr. John Silvernail, public health director for Pitt County, got tested Saturday after he started to feel sick, McClatchy News reported. Health officials said he might have gotten the virus from a family member.
Silvernail is at home with “mild symptoms” and might participate in a virtual news conference Wednesday.
In Rockingham County, Sheriff Sam Page tested positive for COVID-19 the week of Nov. 16. A department spokesperson said the sheriff has been working from home and is due to return to the office Tuesday.
“He is doing very well,” the spokesperson said.
Page showed some symptoms for a few days, BJ Barnes, the mayor of Summerfield and former sheriff of Guilford County, said in a Facebook post after reportedly speaking with him on Saturday.
The sheriff previously called Gov. Roy Cooper’s mask mandate “unenforceable” but said “I wear one myself, that’s my choice.”
DA staff quarantine shuts down courts
A number of staff in the Durham County District Attorney’s Office have been exposed to the coronavirus, forcing most court hearings this week to be postponed.
A spokesperson wouldn’t say how many people are in quarantine or tested positive for COVID-19, The News & Observer reported. According to county courthouse notices, at least eight people who were at the courthouse have tested positive since Oct. 30.
The advisory on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website states “court sessions canceled due to DA staff quarantined due to COVID.”
But one defense attorney wants more information about who in the DA’s office has tested positive, citing interactions private attorneys who are traveling to other counties might have had with people in the DA’s office.
“If we were exposed last week, this is about the time frame that we would be contagious but not symptomatic,” Meier said.
Hornets to start home games without fans
The Charlotte Hornets have no initial plans to welcome spectators to their home court when the team’s season tips off Dec. 22.
The NBA team on Monday said it hopes the situation surrounding the coronavirus will improve and allow for some fans to attend future home games.
“We will continue to work with state and local health officials, as well as the NBA, to develop a plan that will allow fans to return to Spectrum Center in both a safe and timely manner,” the team said in a statement.
Though the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and college football teams have been allowed to have a limited number of fans at outdoor stadiums, North Carolina has stricter guidelines for indoor venues.
Wake to open Virtual Academy registration
The Wake County school district starting this week is allowing elementary school parents to register for online learning.
From Dec. 2-9, families can sign up for next semester’s Virtual Academy program. It was designed for parents who prefer not to send their children back to face-to-face classes as the coronavirus spreads.
More than half of the 69,000 elementary students in the school system are in this semester’s Virtual Academy.
Registration for middle and high school students was earlier this year.
Bar cited for violating coronavirus restrictions
A North Carolina bar where three people were shot was cited for violating COVID-19 restrictions, officials say.
The victims were hit with gunfire early Monday at The Rose Bar in Raleigh, police say. Their injuries weren’t life-threatening.
The bar’s “owner was cited for exceeding COVID-19 limits on crowds,” The News & Observer reported.
The state is under Phase 3 of Gov. Roy Cooper’s reopening plan, which has restrictions for restaurants and allows for limited outdoor capacity at bars.
“According to its Facebook page, The Rose Bar has a full kitchen and was advertising live dancing Sunday with booth seating nearly sold out,” the N&O reported.
Rural counties see more cases per capita
The spread of COVID-19 is gaining speed in the Triangle, but the pace still trails behind other parts of North Carolina.
The state’s rural counties continue to see more daily COVID-19 cases per capita.
Nineteen counties have averaged 61 or more daily cases per 10,000 residents over the last two weeks, The News & Observer reported Saturday. Forsyth in the Triad is the only county among them that includes one of the state’s largest cities.
Avery County in the mountains and Columbus County in the southeast saw the highest per capita case counts over the past two weeks, each with more than 100 cases per 10,000 residents each day.
Meanwhile, Wake averaged 34, Durham averaged 33, Orange 27 and Mecklenburg 40.
Charlotte strip club loses permits
A south Charlotte strip club had its permits to serve alcohol suspended Friday after police witnessed huge crowds, lap dancing and no mask wearing at the popular venue, records show.
At least 200 patrons were packed inside Club Onyx when a state investigator entered the business early on Nov. 1, according to the state order suspending its permits, The Charlotte Observer reported.
“Grossly exceeded capacity limitations,” Special Agent Kelly Kearns wrote in the order.
The night before, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Detective Chad Denton cited club general manager Daniel Newell for operating the club in violation of Gov. Roy Cooper’s COVID-19 executive orders, according to the commission’s order pulling the club’s permits.
Newell told the investigators he considered the club exempt from Cooper’s orders because it serves food.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 6:55 AM.
