COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Aug. 27
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
More than 8,000 COVID cases added
At least 1,189,296 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 14,319 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday reported 8,105 new COVID-19 cases, down from 8,620 on Thursday.
Forty-one coronavirus-related deaths were added on Friday. The state health department doesn’t specify the dates on which the newly reported deaths occurred.
At least 3,651 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, up from 3,552 the day before. As of Thursday, health officials reported 833 of those patients were being treated in intensive care units — the highest count since the pandemic began.
As of Wednesday, the latest date with available information, 12.8% 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.
Unvaccinated several times more likely to die from COVID, NC says
People who haven’t gotten COVID-19 vaccines are over 15 times more likely to die from the disease than those who are vaccinated, North Carolina officials said.
The state shared the data in a report that covers the four weeks leading up to Aug. 21.
The metrics from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services account “for age, as older people are more likely to die from the virus in general, but are also more likely to be vaccinated,” The News & Observer reported Friday.
School testing delayed in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Thousands of students and teachers went back to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools with no COVID-19 tests in place.
The district had planned to test unvaccinated workers, but a slowdown prevented that from happening before the return to in-person learning, officials said.
Health officials recommend schools use screening, which means testing people who may not have been exposed to the virus or show symptoms. Districts that turned to a state health program for testing reportedly saw delays.
CMS didn’t provide a timeline for launching on-site testing, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday.
COVID-related prison release difficult in NC district
One federal court district in North Carolina is among the nation’s least receptive to requests for compassionate release from prison, pleas that are sometimes tied to fear of COVID-19 outbreaks in the facilities.
Defense attorney Meghann Burke said compassionate release is “a futile hope” in the district, which spans from the Charlotte area to the Tennessee border.
As the pandemic hit the nation in 2020, Western District of North Carolina judges received 337 motions and all but five of them were denied, the U.S. Sentencing Commission said in a report.
“The only ‘policy’ that this Court has regarding compassionate release is that each judge should apply the law as he understands it, to the unique facts presented in the case before him,” Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger told The Charlotte Observer in an email. “Each case is unique, and therefore statistical data over the early phase of these motions tells you very little.”
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.
8 firefighters in Charlotte area test positive for COVID
At least eight 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.
As Mecklenburg awaited lab results earlier on Thursday, Harris previously said nine cases had been tied to the Huntersville Fire Department.
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.
The infections were reported as the school on Thursday shared sports-related safety measures.
At athletic events, the school won’t require fans to wear masks outside, though they will be required inside. Vaccines and outdoor mask wearing are “strongly encouraged.”
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.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 7:06 AM.
