Coronavirus omicron updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Feb. 26
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
More than 4,800 new COVID cases reported in NC
At least 2.5 million coronavirus cases have been reported in North Carolina, and at least 22,500 people have died since March 2020, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday reported 4,887 new COVID-19 cases, compared with 3,650 reported Thursday.
An additional 59 coronavirus-related deaths were added to the total. Health officials don’t specify the dates on which newly reported deaths occurred.
At least 1,861 people were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Feb. 25, including 367 adults being treated in intensive care units, health officials said.
As of Feb. 25, the latest day for which data is available, 7.1% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. Health officials say 5% or lower is the target rate to slow the spread of the virus.
Roughly 75% of adults in North Carolina have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and about 71% are fully vaccinated. Of the state’s total population, about 61% are fully vaccinated and about 65% have received at least one dose. State officials round vaccination numbers to the nearest whole number.
More than 3 million ”additional/booster” doses have been administered in North Carolina as of Feb. 25, the health department said. Health officials have urged those who are eligible to get boosted, as data suggests it offers increased protection against the omicron coronavirus variant.
Nearly all new COVID-19 cases in the nation were attributed to the omicron variant and its related “lineages” as of Feb. 19, the latest date for which data is available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Proud Boys, anti-mask protesters gather in Raleigh
Anti-mask and anti-vaccine protesters, some of them dressed in Proud Boys costumes, gathered in downtown Raleigh on Friday to rally against COVID-19 mandates, The News & Observer reported.
Roughly 40 demonstrators arrived on Jones Street, some in pickup trucks and others in a tractor-trailer that had traveled from an earlier protest in Mebane. Some of them sported black and yellow clothing and waved flags that read, “Proudly Unvaccinated.”
The convoy of demonstrators reportedly had plans to block traffic downtown but agreed to move their protest to a parking lot farther down the street at the request of police. They were met by a handful of counter-protesters who stood on the opposite side of the street holding a Black Lives Matter flag, The News & Observer reported.
Read the full story here.
Mask mandates to remain optional for NC school districts
Local school boards will decide whether to continue making students wear face masks in class after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill that would let parents choose, The News & Observer reported.
“I have encouraged local boards to lift mask mandates and they are doing it across the state with the advice of health officials who see that COVID metrics are declining and vaccinations are increasing,” Cooper said in a statement.
“The bipartisan law the legislature passed and I signed last year allows local boards to make these decisions for their own communities and that is still the right course,” he continued.
Many of the state’s school districts have already made masks optional, according to The News & Observer, after the governor suggested the mandates be lifted.
The so-called “Free the Smiles” legislation, sponsored by Republican House Speaker Tim Moore, passed in the state House before it was blocked by Cooper on Thursday, Feb. 24. The bill would make face masks optional for students and end a state law requiring monthly school board votes on the issue.
“This isn’t over,” Moore wrote on Twitter on Friday. “Looking forward to overriding [Gov. Cooper’s] veto and returning this decision to parents, where it belongs.”
Hospitals see unwelcome development as COVID admissions fall
As COVID-19 admissions drop at N.C. mountain hospitals, as they have elsewhere across the state and nation, a related challenge has emerged, Asheville station WLOS reported.
Patients seeking treatment for other illnesses are coming in sicker than they would have been because, in some cases, they delayed seeking care during COVID-19 case spikes, Dr. Teresa Herbert, chief medical officer at AdventHealth Hendersonville, told the station.
“I feel like we’re seeing some of the effects of our long periods of isolation and people not seeking health care during the height of lock-down, and not managing their health as well as they could,” she said.
NC makes COVID-19 information available in more languages
Key COVID-19 vaccine information is now available in all seven of North Carolina’s most-used languages, state officials said this week.
The information, long available in English and Spanish, has also been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese, according to a news release by the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The information details the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, the right to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine and the importance of vaccination for children and teenagers, officials said in the release.
Download the information from the COVID-19 Communications Toolkit.
“COVID-19 brought the inequities in our systems into focus, including how language can be a major barrier to getting critical health information,” NCDHHS Chief Health Equity Officer Victor Armstrong said in the release. “Delivering information in words that people understand is the first step in creating a fair and just opportunity for them to live their healthiest lives.”
41% of Mecklenburg poll respondents are done with masks
In a Charlotte Observer informal poll, 41% of 2,955 respondents said they’re ready to stop masking, yet 43% said they’re worried that lifting the Mecklenburg County mask mandate may lead to a new surge in COVID infections.
For the first time in six months, the county dropped its mask mandate at midnight Friday.
City council in NC mountains resumes in-person meetings
After switching to online public meetings in July 2021, Asheville City Council has resumed in-person meetings as COVID numbers fall, the Asheville Citizen Times reported.
To the chagrin of some residents, anyone who wants to address the council during the public-comments section of meetings will now have to do so again in person, according to the newspaper.
“I’m really concerned that the city is not supporting all avenues for access,” resident Alyx Perry said after calling in during the public-comments portion of the Feb. 8 council meeting, the Citizen Times reported.
School district in NC mountains makes masks optional
Starting Monday, masks become optional in the Asheville-based Buncombe County Schools, the school board unanimously voted Tuesday. the Asheville Citizen Times reported.
Per federal guidelines, masks will be required on school buses, according to the newspaper.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 8:39 AM.