COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Aug. 28
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. Health officials reported Friday that 912 adults 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 are 15 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.
COVID-19 surges in Mecklenburg jail despite sheriff’s safety protocol assurances
An outbreak of COVID-19 continues to roar through the Mecklenburg County Jail, with the number of sickened inmates almost doubling over two days.
On Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Office reported that 61 prisoners had tested positive, and Sheriff Garry McFadden expressed confidence that the safety protocols put in place in the jail would prevent further spread.
On Friday morning, however, the number of cases had soared to 115, according to emails obtained by The Observer in which Mecklenburg government officials updated attorneys with clients in the jail on the rapid spread of the virus.
The current number of cases is the largest since December when a similar outbreak — fueled by jailers returning from the Thanksgiving holiday — sickened more than 100 inmates.
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.
All fourth graders in this school in the NC mountains quarantined
Two positive COVID-19 cases were instrumental in putting all fourth graders at a school in the N.C. mountains into quarantine over the past week.
That’s because the 50 or so fourth graders at Gouge Elementary School in Bakersville are so close together all of the time, Principal Colby Calhoun told WLOS.
In a Facebook post, Mitchell County Schools Superintendent Chad Calhoun urged everyone to always wear masks indoors and to maintain at least three feet of social distance.
“Students are much more likely to avoid being quarantined and having to stay home from school when they wear masks properly inside school buildings,” Chad Calhoun posted.
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.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2021 at 8:12 AM.
