COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Aug. 26
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
60 COVID-related deaths added
At least 1,181,191 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 14,272 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday reported 8,620 new COVID-19 cases, up from 6,130 on Wednesday.
Sixty coronavirus-related deaths were added on Thursday. The state health department doesn’t specify the dates on which the newly reported deaths occurred.
At least 3,552 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, up from 3,518 the day before. Health officials reported 833 of those patients were being treated in intensive care units as of Thursday — the highest number since the pandemic began.
As of Tuesday, the latest date with available information, 13% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. Health officials say 5% or lower is the target rate to slow the spread of the virus.
Roughly 65% of adults in North Carolina have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and about 60% have been fully vaccinated. State health officials round vaccination numbers to the nearest whole number.
Cooper praises restaurants requiring vaccines
Gov. Roy Cooper said a vaccine requirement will be good for business during a visit to a Carrboro restaurant on Thursday.
The restaurant, Pizzeria Mercato, is one of several asking diners to show proof of vaccination before eating indoors.
“You are doing the right thing. I believe it will be good for business,” Cooper told Pizzeria Mercato owner Gabe Barker.
Some restaurant owners said they want to help protect their workers and customers while trying to avoid another round of coronavirus-related restrictions, The News & Observer reported Thursday.
“Local businesses cannot endure another shutdown, and we’re simply doing our part to ensure that does not happen,” said owners of Durty Bull Brewing Co. in Durham. “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve taken all necessary steps to keep our staff and loyal customers safe. This is the next step in that process.”
If customers aren’t vaccinated or don’t want to share whether they’ve gotten a shot, many Triangle restaurants are letting them eat outside.
Here’s a list of some participating restaurants.
Deadline looms for state workers to get vaccinated
State employees have until Wednesday to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.
Though the policy goes into effect, officials said workers have until Sept. 8 to submit their proof.
The vaccine requirement encompasses a multitude of state agencies, including the Administration, Commerce, Environmental Quality, Health and Human Services, Information Technology, Natural and Cultural Resources, Military and Veteran Affairs, Public Safety, Revenue and Transportation departments.
Employees and volunteers at state-run health care facilities are also required to be fully vaccinated, but not until Sept. 30, The News & Observer reported.
9 firefighters in Charlotte area test positive for COVID
At least nine firefighters in Huntersville have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two weeks, Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris said.
Another four firefighters are also in quarantine, The Charlotte Observer reported. None of the firefighters who tested positive have been hospitalized, and all have mild to no symptoms.
Huntersville Fire Department spokesman Bill Suthard said the cases don’t constitute an outbreak because the firefighters weren’t in the same setting.
COVID cases spike at UNC, NC State
Daily COVID-19 cases at the University of North Carolina and N.C. State University have spiked after students returned to campus, but officials have said the virus isn’t spreading in classrooms.
New daily cases at UNC have quadrupled since classes started last week, The News & Observer reported. Officials reported 250 students have tested positive since Aug. 1 — most of whom are asymptomatic.
At N.C. State, about 240 students and 60 employees have tested positive in the same time frame.
An additional 500 N.C. State students are isolating or quarantining off campus, according to the N&O, and 40 are doing the same on campus.
Huntersville mayor questions county mask mandate
Republican Huntersville Mayor John Aneralla told the county commissioners’ chairman in a letter this week that officials failed to back up the countywide mask mandate with relevant data.
Commissioners voted to approve the measure 6-2. County officials said his letter will not affect the rule, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Aneralla said it wasn’t about being for or against the face mask mandate, but he said the rule doesn’t “include any comparative data from other North Carolina communities sufficient to support a finding that a more stringent health rule is necessary within Mecklenburg.”
“Lacking such justification, proposed rules are not legally permissible and are preempted by the state regulations,” Aneralla wrote in the letter, which he shared with The Observer.
Atrium expands monoclonal antibody treatment sites
Atrium Health in Charlotte has expanded access to COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatments with two new locations.
Monoclonal antibodies have been shown to potentially reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 70%, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The cost of the infusion process is billed to insurance, which is typically covered, an infectious disease physician told The Observer. Atrium also has plans in place for people who don’t have insurance.
The treatment will be available from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Atrium did not disclose the locations of the facilities providing the treatment.
WakeMed sets deadline for employees to get vaccinated
Employees of WakeMed Health and Hospitals will have until Nov. 12 to get a coronavirus vaccine under the hospital’s mandate.
The deadline is about seven weeks later than other Triangle hospitals, The News & Observer reported.
Spokeswoman Becky Scolio said WakeMed took some time to develop a strategy for vaccinating all employees after announcing the mandate in late July. The hospital estimates about 75% of its workforce is currently vaccinated.
“The decision makers on this scrutinized scientific data about the vaccine, evaluated what was working and not working for other health systems and spent a lot of time getting what we hope is a good process in place that gives our team ample time to get vaccinated and get answers to questions they need,” Scolio said in an email to The N&O.
COVID outbreak linked to Raleigh music venue
A downtown Raleigh music venue is closing for two weeks after half of its team contracted COVID-19.
The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop said it will give refunds until it reopens on Sept. 8. The record store will continue to make shipments during the shutdown, The News & Observer reported Thursday.
The venue reported the outbreak after it had implemented strict coronavirus-related rules, requiring masks and negative COVID-19 tests or vaccines for concertgoers.
Mask advisory issued in Cabarrus County
Everyone visiting or living in Cabarrus County, in the Charlotte area, is urged to wear face masks in buildings and crowded outdoor areas.
The Cabarrus Health Alliance made the public health advisory due to the threat of the contagious delta coronavirus variant, The Charlotte Observer reported Thursday.
The advisory, which applies to people regardless of vaccination status, stops short of a mask mandate like the one in neighboring Mecklenburg County.
In the last two weeks, health officials said new coronavirus cases have increased 200% in Cabarrus County. The rate of positive tests has jumped from 2.4% to 14.2% in two months.
“Our community and our health care system cannot sustain the rapid rise in cases,” said Dr. Bonnie Coyle, public health director for Cabarrus Health Alliance’s public health director. “To truly see case counts and hospitalizations decrease, we need the support of our community and partners to individually or institutionally implement these masking recommendations.”
Hospitals seeing COVID and another respiratory illness
As COVID-19 patient counts increase, North Carolina hospitals are also treating people for another respiratory illness.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases are usually seen in the winter, so the number of patients coming to hospitals this summer is surprising, The News & Observer reported Thursday.
RSV is a flu-like disease that hits young children and older adults the hardest. Most kids will get it before they turn 2 years old, according to health officials.
But last winter, coronavirus precautions may have slowed the transmission of RSV. Dr. Seth Brody, chief physician director for WakeMed Health and Hospitals, said one theory is that children were spreading it to each other while they gathered this summer.
“That’s sort of the simplest and most direct explanation of why now,” Brody said. “But there could be other reasons.”
UNC lab a target of Chinese media
A research lab at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has become a target of Chinese state media as the United States tries to determine the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lab of coronavirus expert Ralph Baric is one of several facilities facing conspiracy theories and criticizing words as part of the effort, The News & Observer reported Thursday. UNC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the topic.
The facilities are being targeted as some experts have called for more investigations into the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a lab in the same city that saw the first cases of COVID-19. Chinese officials have recently pushed back, spreading baseless theories about U.S. labs, the N&O reported.
Bill would require districts to have monthly face mask votes
North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday approved a proposal that calls for school boards to vote each month on whether they will require face masks.
The bill passed in the General Assembly also addresses remote learning, graduation requirements and other coronavirus-related topics. Senate Bill 954 was set to head to Gov. Roy Cooper, The News & Observer reported.
As of Wednesday, 90 of the 115 school districts across the state were requiring masks to be worn.
2 Charlotte schools report cases as students return to classrooms
Wednesday was the first day of school for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, marking the first full return to in-person learning since the start of the pandemic last year.
hat evening, two schools reported COVID-19 cases. School nurses are reaching out to anyone who may have been exposed to the virus at Community House Middle School and Myers Park High School.
This school year, there are extra masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing rules in CMS classrooms, The Charlotte Observer reported.
”We’re still trying to social distance — three feet now. So with 25 students you have to figure that out. There’s a lot of math going on. We have hand sanitizing wipes, and there’s figuring out how to clean the classrooms. I have six different classes,” said Virginia Little, a seventh-grade social studies teacher.
There were 143,411 students enrolled in CMS as of Monday, about 425 fewer than projected. About 183 requests have been submitted since Aug. 19 to switch students to virtual learning.
Wake might require masks at recess
Officials in Wake County told parents Wednesday the district is considering new safety precautions after 140 COVID-19 cases were reported in the first two days of school.
Those measures could include requiring students to wear face masks outdoors during recess and regular testing for student athletes, The News & Observer reported.
“We appreciate this is not the start to a new school year that many envisioned or anyone wanted,” the school system posted. “However, we are confident that full compliance and stricter measures will allow students to participate in the types of school activities that would otherwise be jeopardized by the delta variant of COVID-19.”
COVID outbreak reported at Mecklenburg jail
At least 61 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Mecklenburg County Jail.
More than 500 are in quarantine, The Charlotte Observer reported, and 34 workers have tested positive and are quarantining.
“We remain confident in the protocols our staff and contract medical providers have implemented to manage and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities,” Sheriff Garry McFadden said in a news release. “As cases continue to increase in the community we encourage everyone to get vaccinated and will continue to educate and offer the COVID-19 vaccine to our resident population.”
NC teacher won’t wear face mask at school
An English teacher in Johnston County has been sent home for refusing to wear a face mask at school after the district required it.
Aurora Preston, who works at South Johnston High School in Four Oaks, is facing up to nine weeks of unpaid leave and could lose her job, The News & Observer reported.
“It is not the job of government agencies to dictate when and where it is appropriate to utilize the rights afforded to me by being a citizen of the U.S.,” Preston said in a statement Wednesday. “It is their job to uphold the Constitution affording these rights to all of the citizens all of the time.”
The school district declined to comment on confidential personnel matters.
Wake hospitals filling up with COVID-19 patients
Doctors at Wake County hospitals say the COVID-19 situation has grown critical as beds fill up with patients and are asking for the community’s help.
During a news conference Wednesday, top doctors at WakeMed, Duke Raleigh Hospital, UNC Rex Healthcare and Wake County Emergency Medical Services said patients are backed up in the emergency departments and lobbies are full.
“Our wait times are higher than they’ve ever been at Duke Raleigh. I’m sure other hospitals can agree to that as well,” said Dr. Timothy Plonk, the medical director at Duke Raleigh Hospital. “And it’s creating a great deal of stress and frustration. I think a lot of people are waiting in our lobby and other lobbies in our country longer than they ever thought they would have to wait for health care in this country.”
Doctors asked people go to their primary care physicians or urgent care centers instead and leave room at the emergency departments for critically sick patients, The News & Observer reported.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 7:09 AM.
