Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Dec. 15
Click here for updates for Dec. 16.
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Hospitalizations hit record high
At least 446,601 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 5,881 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday reported 5,236 new COVID-19 cases, up from 4,770 the day before.
Twenty-six coronavirus-related deaths were reported Tuesday.
At least 2,735 people in North Carolina were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday. That’s the highest single-day count reported in the state since the start of the pandemic.
About 10.9% of tests were reported positive as of Sunday, the latest day for which data are available. That’s above the 5% target set by health officials.
Gov. Roy Cooper at 2 p.m. Wednesday is set to hold a news conference with updates about the state’s fight against COVID-19. A live stream of the event will be available at ncdps.gov/storm-update.
Durham VA nursing home will get vaccine Wednesday
Residents of the on-site nursing home at the Durham VA will be vaccinated against the coronavirus on Wednesday. Vaccinations of health care workers at the hospital and its clinics in Durham, Raleigh, Greenville and Morehead City will follow later this week.
The medical center received 2,925 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday and is one of the 37 VA sites to be included in the first wave of deliveries, The News & Observer reported.
Paul Crews, executive director of the Durham VA, said the hospital was chosen in part because it has the deep-freeze capacity to store the vaccine.
About 25 residents at the hospital’s Community Living Center are first on the list to receive it.
NC doesn’t know how much more of vaccine it will receive
Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday he doesn’t know how many doses of the COVID-19 vaccine North Carolina will receive next week after the first 85,800 doses are delivered.
He said the state will find out Friday morning.
“North Carolina and every other state still need clarity from the federal government as to how many doses of the Pfizer vaccine we’ll receive,” Cooper said during a press conference. “We’ve been told that each Friday we’ll get information about the following week’s shipment, giving the states just a few hours to direct where those shipments will go.”
But Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said she hopes states will know earlier so they can plan ahead.
“It’s not enough time to allow the state and providers to plan for appropriate allocations or to coordinate vaccine schedules for staff,” she said Tuesday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a second vaccine by Moderna for emergency use by the end of this week, The News & Observer reported. If that happens, Cooper said North Carolina expects to receive 175,000 doses next week.
First COVID-19 vaccine doses in NC are administered
North Carolina hospitals received their first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines, and one doctor predicts “widespread immunization” in the state by early next year.
While the first vaccinations are set to go to health care workers and residents of care facilities, other residents may be able to get vaccines within the first two quarters of 2021, according to Dr. David Priest, a Novant Health infectious disease expert.
The news came after three North Carolina hospitals on Monday became among the first in the country to receive vaccines to help protect against the coronavirus,
Dr. Katie Passaretti, the medical director of infection prevention at Atrium Health, was the first person in the state to receive a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, The Charlotte Observer reported.
“This is an exciting day as we enter a very hopeful phase in defeating this virus,” the Charlotte-area hospital system wrote Monday on Twitter.
Other shipments went to Duke Hospital in Durham and Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem for employee vaccinations.
“It’s a limited supply for now, but this is a remarkable achievement for science and health,” Gov. Roy Cooper said on Twitter. “We all need to keep wearing a mask and acting responsibly while we get as many people vaccinated as fast as we can.”
This week, 50 hospitals in North Carolina are expected to get 85,000 vaccine doses. The vaccine must be kept at cold temperatures.
Wake schools poised to move back online
Wake County school administrators on Monday recommended suspending in-person instruction in January.
Administrators suggested suspending classes from Jan. 4 to Jan. 15, citing the rising number of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina and difficulty staffing given the number of employees in quarantine, The News & Observer reported. Under the proposal, students would finish out the rest of this week with in-person learning but complete the remainder of the fall semester online.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the issue Tuesday.
Wake County recorded 3,389 COVID-19 cases over the past week, compared to 3,022 the week before, The N&O reported Sunday.
Some Wake County elementary and middle school students as well as some special education students are currently getting at least some face-to-face instruction.
CIAA cancels basketball season
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced Monday it is canceling the 2021 men’s and women’s basketball seasons over COVID-19 concerns.
The season was scheduled to begin Jan. 9, The News & Observer reported.
“Unfortunately, the COVID-19 continues to challenge the conference’s ability to see a clear path to move forward collectively,” CIAA commissioner Jacqie McWilliams said in a statement. “I want to commend our Board of Directors for exemplifying courageous leadership in college sports to ensure the well-being of the CIAA as well as the health and safety of our student-athletes and communities.”
The CIAA previously canceled its football season because of the pandemic. It also canceled the volleyball season, which was moved from the fall to the spring.
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 7:23 AM.
