Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Dec. 17
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 457,000
At least 457,660 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 6,065 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday reported 5,786 new COVID-19 cases, up from 5,273 the day before.
Eighty-six coronavirus-related deaths were reported on Thursday. The total came after the state reported a single-day record of 98 deaths on Wednesday.
At least 2,804 people in North Carolina were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday.
About 11.7% of tests were reported positive as of Tuesday, the latest day for which data are available. Health officials have said that number should be 5% or lower to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Schools chosen for COVID-19 testing kits
At least 17 school districts and 11 charter schools in North Carolina are slated to receive coronavirus testing kits under a pilot program rolled out by the Department of Health and Human Services.
About 50,000 federally funded rapid antigen tests will go to the schools in the program to test staff with symptoms or those who have been in close contact with a person who tested positive, The News & Observer reported.
Only schools with in-person instruction were eligible for the program.
“This program gives us another tool in our toolkit to slow the spread of COVID-19 across our state and to keep children in the classroom, which we know is vital not only to their academic growth but also to their health and emotional development,” DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement.
First vaccines given to Novant workers in Charlotte
Novant Health’s Presbyterian Medical Center doled out the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday to front-line workers.
State health officials have warned the vaccine’s arrival won’t prevent cases from surging after Christmas, but many doctors expressed hope at what it represents — the beginning of the end.
“My experience was relatively good,” COVID-19 vaccinator Caitlin Shannon told reporters during a news conference. “I do trust the system, that it’s been vetted. I think it’s most important to control this virus so we can get on with our lives and go back to being around each other.”
Thursday’s vaccine distribution was the second in Mecklenburg County this week after Atrium Health received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccines on Monday.
There were no reported severe allergic reactions or significant side effects at Atrium, infectious disease physician Dr. Lewis McCurdy said.
Cooper, Cohen greet health care workers getting vaccine
Gov. Roy Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, watched front-line workers at UNC Medical Center get the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday.
Both said they wanted to celebrate the occasion and thank those involved in person, The News & Observer reported.
“It’s actually, frankly, very emotional to see our front-line health care workers who have worked so hard for us all year, to see them being cared for and to have this tool for them,” Cohen said afterward. “I heard words like ‘hope’ and ‘honored’ to be able to get this very limited supply of vaccine that we have at this moment.”
North Carolina received 85,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week and is expected to receive an additional 61,000 doses next week.
If the Moderna vaccine receives emergency use authorization this week as expected, Cooper said the state will get 175,000 doses next week.
75 coronavirus cases linked to church event
At least 75 COVID-19 cases have been linked to a church event at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, county health officials said Thursday.
The event was held the weekend of Dec. 5, the Henderson County Health Department said in a news release. Hendersonville is in Western North Carolina, just south of Asheville.
“With a strong sense of unity, our ministers and deacons have decided to put our church on a thirty-day pause in regard to on-site worship,” the church said Tuesday in a Facebook post. “This also includes all ministry activities. The current wave of virus infection is so widespread that we must take action out of concern for the safety of our church, our community, and especially those who are most vulnerable in our midst.”
Most NC counties at COVID-19 ‘tipping point’
The majority of North Carolina counties are at a “critical” level for coronavirus risk ahead of Christmas, researchers say.
Of the 100 counties statewide, Chatham and Clay counties were the only two not marked red on a COVID-19 tracking map. All other parts of North Carolina were at a “tipping point” for the virus, according to data from the Harvard Global Health Institute.
It’s a jump from before Thanksgiving, when 42 counties were in the red zone.
To come up with the map, researchers say they studied each county’s seven-day average of new coronavirus infections and compared that total to population size.
State paid too much in unemployment benefits
North Carolina is taking steps to recoup money after paying people too much in unemployment benefits during the pandemic, officials say.
Between April and September, data show the state overpaid $61.5 million to 46,800 people. Across the state, more than 1.3 million people received unemployment benefits as the pandemic dealt a blow to businesses.
The N.C. Division of Employment Security said it will try to get back the money by cutting many people’s remaining benefits by 50%.
Officials say most of the people getting reduced benefits had received money they weren’t eligible for “because of corrected information about their earnings or the reason they lost employment,” The News & Observer reported Thursday. Lawyers in the state say applicants may have been confused about unemployment options.
Michael D. Brown said he appealed after receiving a request to return more than $13,000 he received in benefits.
“I’m really just a guy who’s trying to get through the next day at any given moment,” Brown said.
Some quarantining after NC Senate leader’s Christmas party
Guests at a Christmas party hosted by North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
Fewer than 30 people attended the party held at a restaurant, Berger spokesman Pat Ryan wrote in an email to The News & Observer. But he declined to say what day it was held.
Ryan said one guest informed others Wednesday they were likely positive at the time of the party, and those who were in close contact are now in quarantine.
“The gathering probably looked identical to any scene at any of the hundreds of locations where people eat lunch or dinner every day in Raleigh,” Ryan told The N&O. “Guests had a meal at a restaurant. They wore masks when walking in the building and using the restroom, etc., but not while eating their food.”
Airbnb suspends NC listings after party complaints
Vacation rental company Airbnb suspended more than a dozen Triangle-area listings after it received party complaints during the coronavirus pandemic, The News & Observer reported.
Over the summer, Airbnb announced a ban on parties at locations booked through its website.
“As COVID-19 cases continue to rise throughout the state, it’s more important than ever that we all do our part to reduce the number of parties and large gatherings that could spread the virus,” Viviana Jordan, Airbnb’s North Carolina public policy manager, said in a news release.
Statewide, Gov. Roy Cooper has put a 10-person limit on indoor gatherings and a 25-person limit on outdoor gatherings.
Ferry runs cut after crew members test positive
The number of Pamlico Sound ferry trips to and from Ocracoke Island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks has been cut after six employees tested positive for COVID-19.
An additional 11 employees have had to quarantine as a result, The News & Observer reported.
The N.C. Department of Transportation reported two members from the crew of the M/V Swan Quarter and four workers on shore contracted the virus.
The M/V Swan Quarter and the terminals at Cedar Island, Ocracoke and Swan Quarter have all been sanitized since the workers tested positive, the DOT said.
Duke women’s basketball presses pause
The women’s basketball program at Duke University is pausing team activities indefinitely after two people who travel with the team tested positive for the coronavirus, the school announced Wednesday.
The team’s next two games have also been postponed.
Duke was scheduled to play Sunday at N.C. State and Tuesday at home against UNC-Wilmington, The News & Observer reported.
Durham students to get As on exams due to pandemic
Durham Public Schools will give students A grades on their final exams of the semester.
The school board last week approved adjusting the grading scale for end-of-course and career and technical education tests. The N.C. State Board of Education has allowed districts to change the weights of this year’s exam scores.
“We want to honor the work that students have done so far and recognize that we are in unprecedented times,” said Bettina Umstead, chair of the Durham school board, The News & Observer reported.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, students throughout the state will have to take their exams in person. Durham Public Schools joins other districts that have changed their grading scales.
With the new system, students in the Durham district will receive a minimum score of 90. The school system says it’s still deciding how the grades will impact students’ course progress.
Cases close Charlotte help center for a month
The Mecklenburg County Emergency Operations Center, where first responders coordinate resources, will close until early January. Remote work will allow efforts to continue, The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday.
At least three workers have received positive COVID-19 tests. Another 10 workers are in quarantine, according to a statement from Hannah Sanborn, emergency management planning coordinator.
“It is unclear if these cases were linked or if multiple people tested positive concurrently,” Sanborn said.
The center, located in Charlotte, hasn’t been open to the public since October. It closed to employees last week, the Observer reported on Wednesday.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 7:14 AM.
