Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Dec. 13
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases surpass 436,000
At least 436,595 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 5,823 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday reported 6,819 new COVID-19 cases, up from 6,153 reported the day before.
Twenty-seven coronavirus-related deaths were reported Sunday.
At least 2,520 people in North Carolina were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Sunday.
About 11.6% of tests were reported positive as of Friday, the latest date for which data are available. That’s above the 5% target set by health officials.
Thanksgiving gatherings effects
North Carolina is seeing high levels of virus spread, as indicated by a week of troubling data.
At least 80 percent of the state’s 100 counties are in the orange or red categories of the statewide alert system that gives an indication of community spread.
The rising cases are likely a result of people “who went to Thanksgiving already sick” and spread the virus in family gatherings, Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state health department, said.
She also urged people to avoid travel for Christmas.
“Please, please avoid traveling and gathering this holiday season,” she said.
Wake schools could move back online
The Wake County school board is meeting Monday to discuss switching to remote instruction as COVID-19 cases surge in North Carolina.
The board will potentially vote Tuesday whether to suspend in-person classes.
School board chairman Keith Sutton told The News & Observer it’s becoming more difficult to staff schools as more school employees are under quarantine.
Some Wake County elementary and middle school students as well as some special education students are getting at least some face-to-face instruction.
Charlotte hospitals could exceed capacity
Top doctors at Atrium Health and Novant Health in Mecklenburg County are urging residents to comply with safety precautions as hospitals near capacity to treat COVID-19 patients.
Though they now have enough capacity to continue caring for those patients over the next month, doctors say the short-term outlook depends on whether people follow health guidelines, The Charlotte Observer reported.
“We all have the ability to act so we can hopefully dampen the curve,” Atrium Health’s Dr. Lewis McCurdy, an infectious disease specialist, said during a news conference with Mecklenburg County officials.
The warnings come as researchers at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill released a report projecting local hospitals could become overwhelmed within the next four to five weeks if the current trend continues.
Courts closed for 30 days as cases climb
All non-essential activity in North Carolina’s courts came to a halt Friday by order of N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley.
Beasley closed the courts for 30 days, citing the rising number of coronavirus cases. There are 291 confirmed COVID-19 cases among judicial employees in North Carolina — including 40 in the past week, Beasley said.
“Scaling back operations for the next 30 days will give local court officials an opportunity to do much needed planning to ensure that our courts are in the best possible position to protect the health and safety of employees and the public in 2021,” Beasley wrote.
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 9:46 AM.
