COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Sept. 14
Click here for updates for Sept. 15.
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
More than 4,700 new cases reported
At least 1,308,150 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 15,305 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday reported 4,760 new COVID-19 cases and added 58 coronavirus-related deaths. State health officials don’t specify the dates on which newly reported deaths occurred.
At least 3,690 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday, including 955 patients who are being treated in intensive care units, health officials said.
As of Sunday, the latest date for which data is available, 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 67% of adults in North Carolina have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and about 62% have been fully vaccinated. State officials round vaccination numbers to the nearest whole number.
Charlotte charter school requires teachers to get vaccinated
Socrates Academy in Matthews became one of the first schools in the Charlotte area to require teachers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The charter school will require all staff and teachers to be fully vaccinated by Thanksgiving unless they submit a medical or religious exemption, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Socrates Academy serves students in kindergarten through ninth grade. The board, which voted unanimously in favor of the mandate, said most teachers were already vaccinated.
“From the beginning, we have taken a position that we need to follow science,” board President Larry Peroulas said in a statement sent to the Observer. “There is clear evidence showing that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and, combined with other safety measures such as masking, are the most powerful measures we have against the pandemic.
Cawthorn calls for end to mask mandate
U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn was joined by hundreds of people at a protest in Johnson County against the school district’s indoor face mask mandate.
“I’m here to save my generation from socialism,” Cawthorn told the crowd.
The protest came ahead of the Johnson County school board’s meeting, during which board members were scheduled to vote on renewing the mandate.
But the vote has been rescheduled because vice chairwoman Terri Sessoms, whose husband recently died, can’t attend.
School board member tests positive for COVID
A school board member in Cleveland County who previously voted against requiring face masks in schools is asking for prayers after he was hospitalized with the coronavirus.
“Please say a little prayer for me tonight,” school board member Rodney Fitch posted on Facebook on Thursday. “I am in the hospital dealing with low oxygen levels thanks to Covid.”
Fitch previously posted that wearing face masks should be a “freedom of choice,” The Charlotte Observer reported.
He voted Aug. 9 to oppose a motion that would require students, staff and faculty in Cleveland County to wear face masks. When the board voted again on Aug. 18, Fitch, a Republican, joined six other members voting in favor of the mandate.
Over 20 Triangle schools report COVID clusters
At least 21 schools in the Triangle area have active COVID-19 clusters, according to the health department’s latest report.
Twelve of those clusters are in Wake County, two are in Orange County and one is in Durham County. Granville and Harnett counties reported at least two clusters while Franklin and Johnson counties have one each, The News & Observer reported.
There could be more or less COVID cases than schools currently have because of a time lag in health department data.
Charlotte schools require unvaccinated staff to get tested
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will require teachers to show proof of vaccination or submit to regular COVID-19 testing starting the week of Sept. 20.
“This testing aligns with recommendations from Mecklenburg County Public Health, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction,” CMS school board member Carol Sawyer wrote on her Facebook page Tuesday night.
The tests will be mandatory for unvaccinated staff, but families or students can also opt in if they choose, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Duke loosens COVID restrictions
A decline in coronavirus cases has prompted Duke University to loosen some campus COVID-19 restrictions, including allowing students and employees to remove face masks outdoors.
Masks will still be required at major outdoor events, such as football games, The News & Observer reported.
Duke reported 28 cases among students and nine among faculty over the last week, marking the first time since the fall semester began that the university reported less than 100 cases in one week.
“Since the beginning, we’ve talked about Duke United and about being in this together, and I could not be prouder of the way our students, faculty and staff have responded to help curtail the spread of COVID on campus,” Vice President for Administration Kyle Cavanaugh said in a statement.
School board meetings become mask battlegrounds
Crowds have been attending local school board meetings across North Carolina in recent weeks — turning them into “heated battlegrounds” over face mask requirements, The News & Observer reports.
The meetings are likely to become more contentious because of a law that took effect Aug. 30. It requires schools boards to hold monthly votes on their face mask policies.
“Most boards meet once a month,” Rep. John Torbett, an education leader in the North Carolina House, said in August. “It gives them an opportunity to go look back and see what they want to state for the next coming month.”
The required monthly votes have also given opponents of mask requirements the opportunity to organize others to show up at the meetings to protest, the N&O reports. In some cases, police have had to remove protesters from school board meetings.
Harnett County changes school mask rules again
The Harnett County school board voted 3-2 on Monday to make masks optional again for students and employees.
The school district was the first in North Carolina to make face masks optional, even before schools were given the option, The News & Observer reported. But last month, Harnett voted to require face masks as COVID-19 cases rose.
Now, the board members who voted in favor of making masks optional again say there’s been a decrease in the number of coronavirus cases among students. There were 260 positive cases and 1,493 quarantined on Wednesday compared to 203 positive cases and 1,388 quarantined on Sept. 3.
But school board member Vivian Bennett questioned the decision, saying only 35% of adults in Harnett County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and that vaccines are not available for children younger than 12. She said cases won’t go down until vaccination rates improve.
Data from the state health department shows about 33% of the population in Harnett County is fully vaccinated.
“If we would take the vaccination we could bring down (cases),” Bennett said, according to the N&O. “A lot of people don’t believe in that so how is it coming down?”
Parents buy air purifiers for NC schools
Parents are buying air purifiers for Wake County schools because the district won’t shell out for them, The News & Observer reported.
The air filtration systems have been put in classrooms and cafeterias to help combat COVID-19. But some think Wake should take responsibility for installing them so less-affluent schools won’t be at a disadvantage.
“There are parents that are not going to be able to provide funds to do this,” Rebecca Schuster, a parent at Buckhorn Creek Elementary School in Holly Springs, told The N&O. “There are schools that are not going to be able to afford this. What happens to those kids?”
UNC’s Rex hospital puts up tent outside ER
UNC Rex hospital has put up tents under a vestibule outside its emergency department to be used when the waiting areas fill up amid an influx of hospitalizations.
“I’m hoping that we don’t have to use them,” said Kim Boyer, director of emergency services. “But we want to be able to take care of the community. When we’re so backed up and overflowing, it’s hard to do that. We just need some extra space.”
The so-called triage tents were first erected in the spring of 2020 but came down after demand died down, The News & Observer reported. Now they’re back as hospitals struggle to juggle both COVID-19 patients and regular patients.
“For the times when we suddenly have an influx of patients, we really just need more capacity, more space, so people aren’t out in the waiting room for hours waiting for help,” said Dr. Lisa Pickett, chief medical officer at Duke University Hospital.
Duke put up two tents in its ambulance bay early last month.
Harris Teeter changes shortens hours
Harris Teeter announced Monday it will shorten its hours as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
All stores will operate from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. starting Wednesday. The service, meat and fish counters will close at 8 p.m., The Charlotte Observer reported.
The grocery chain said the move was spurred by a labor shortage during the pandemic. A company spokesperson said closing early will help “manage labor in this difficult employment environment.”
Charlotte zip codes see lower COVID rates
Coronavirus case rates in nearly all Mecklenburg County zip codes showed a decrease for the first time since early June, according to an analysis of local data.
The countywide average number of new cases per 100,000 residents fell from a rate of 693.8 to 618.1 from Aug. 26 to Sept. 8, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Just two zip codes saw an increase in case rates, including uptown (ZIP code 28202) and an area of West Charlotte (ZIP code 28208). Another two zip codes saw no change in case rates.
Davidson, or ZIP code 28026, has the lowest concentration of new cases.
Raleigh cemetery offers chance to mourn
Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh created the Grove of Remembrance to allow families and loved ones a place to mourn those who died during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four crepe myrtle trees stand side-by-side in the grove. Families have tied colored ribbons to the trees with the names of those they lost with a message, The News & Observer reported. But not all of them died from the virus.
“Families who’ve experienced a loss this year, whether it was COVID or not, were not really able to come in large numbers and remember,” said Robin Simonton, the executive director of Oakwood. “We wanted to give families, whether you were buried here or not, whether you died of COVID or not, their families a chance to come and remember.
How effective has SlowCOVIDNC app been?
North Carolina’s contact tracing app SlowCOVIDNC was introduced more than a year ago, but few who downloaded it have reported a positive case.
The app was designed to notify close contacts if they were exposed to the coronavirus. About 9% of the entire state’s population had downloaded it as of Sept. 9, and just 1,176 people reported a positive case using the app.
Health officials said that led to about 3,153 exposure notifications.
“It’s definitely more limited in terms of its effectiveness because of how many people have downloaded it,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Charlotte parents unhappy with mask exemptions
Dozens of parents with children who attend Catholic schools in the Charlotte area have filed complaints with the Mecklenburg Health Department about how school leaders are implementing the county mask mandate.
Gibbie Harris, Mecklenburg County Public Health Director, and county commissioners said at a meeting last week they have received numerous emails from concerned parents, The Charlotte Observer reported. Some are upset their child’s school is permitting exemptions to the mask requirement without a doctor’s note or medical excuse.
The head of local Catholic schools has said campuses are following the mask order and allowing exemptions in accordance with the county’s rule, The Observer reported.
“(We’ve had) conversations with several of the different principals,” Harris told commissioners at the meeting. “We continue to work with them. Some are more receptive than others — I’ll put it that way. But we do feel we have the support of the (Catholic) diocese at this point.”
School district ends contact tracing, most quarantines
The Union County school board voted 8-1 early Monday to immediately stop COVID-19 contact tracing and significantly loosen coronavirus quarantine requirements, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The district will not require students to quarantine if they’ve been in contact with someone who is sick. Students must stay home only if they’ve tested positive for COVID-19 or if they have clear symptoms of the virus. The change is effective immediately, Melissa Merrell, the board chairperson, told The Observer.
Recently, thousands of Union County students were in a proactive quarantine after being possibly exposed at school.
Parents reacted to the vote with “anger and fear,” according to The Observer.
“So they’re doubling down on the entire mess they’ve let their schools become,” one parent tweeted. “No better way to show you care about the health and safety of children by making them (even) more unsafe.”
Some spoke out in favor of the change Monday night during a joint meeting between county commissioners and the Union County Consolidated Human Services Board
“I’m here to continue to stand up for the (Union County Public Schools) board and my children and the 7,000 children sent back to school today where they belong,” Cassie Powers said, according to The Observer. “We will be successful this year without the bullying and fear-mongering from the state.”
But the school board also faced criticism from the North Carolina Association of Educators.
“The Union County Board of Education’s decision to allow students to attend school without masks, to end contact tracing, and to end most quarantine procedures is startling and deeply concerning,” Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE president, said, according to The Observer. “It’s reckless and flies in the face of Union County’s own health department, the state, and federal public health officials.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 7:07 AM.
