Number of reported coronavirus cases in North Carolina rises to 7
Find the latest coronavirus updates for North Carolina here.
Film festival postponed
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival on Wednesday said it had to cancel this year’s event in Durham. The event had been scheduled for April 2-5.
The announcement comes a day after coronavirus concerns prompted Duke University to cancel all school-sponsored events, including the festival, according to its website.
Several other area events, including the Bull City Lip Sync Battle and Lebanese Festival of Raleigh, aren’t happening, The News & Observer reported. Raleigh’s Billie Eilish concert, St. Patrick’s Day parade and Dreamville Festival still had the green light as of Wednesday morning.
Additional test kits not received
North Carolina hasn’t gotten additional coronavirus test kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a letter federal lawmakers sent to Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday.
State health officials have said “supplies for test kits are not yet adequate for the expected demand,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter was released one day after North Carolina officials said the state had capacity to test another 300 people, The News & Observer reported. The state is estimated to have more than 10.5 million residents.
Hospital restrictions announced
UNC Health announced Tuesday that it has implemented “voluntary restrictions for visitors” at hospitals across North Carolina in response to coronavirus.
Visitor restrictions are already in place due to the flu, but friends and family of patients are now encouraged to stay home and use “virtual options to talk to them,” UNC Health says.
Restrictions could be “tightened” as the situation develops.
To combat the spread of coronavirus and other diseases, two Charlotte-area hospital systems are only allowing immediate family members to see patients, officials said Wednesday. Visitors to Atrium Health and Novant Health also must be age 13 or older and come during regular hours.
“Younger visitors or non-immediate family may be allowed during visiting hours only if ‘deemed absolutely necessary by the patient’s healthcare team,’” The Charlotte Observer reported.
2 private schools closed
Two private schools in Raleigh shut down temporarily due to concerns about parents who may have coronavirus or tested positive for the disease, The News & Observer reported Wednesday.
GRACE Christian School was closed Wednesday, and Trinity Academy closed Tuesday for cleaning.
Thales Academy is staying open after the parent of a student tested positive for COVID-19.
School field trips canceled
Charlotte-area school districts announced Tuesday they were limiting some student and employee travel due to the spread of COVID-19.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is suspending field trips and travel for professional development opportunities, superintendent Earnest Winston said. The district still planned to allow travel for sports, band and other activities, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Nearby, Union County Public Schools announced similar travel cancellations.
The Wake County Public School System on Tuesday said it was immediately stopping all field trips. The district says it’s also “evaluating all future events that attract crowds” after weighing recommendations from health officials and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
Six of the seven North Carolina patients who authorities say tested positive for coronavirus are Wake County residents.
Remote classes announced for UNC System
Duke University announced Tuesday that all on-campus classes will be indefinitely suspended and remote instruction will begin, according to a message from the president.
When undergraduate spring break ends — extended to Sunday, March 22 — classes will resume March 23 to give time for students and faculty to adjust to the new plans, the statement said.
The University of North Carolina made a similar announcement Wednesday. Spring break is extended until March 22, and classes will be remote indefinitely starting March 23.
N.C. State University has canceled classes for the week of March 16-20 as it transitions to remote instruction, with classes resuming March 23.
The UNC System, which includes 16 universities across the state, said Wednesday that all institutions will “transition from in-person instruction to a system of alternative course delivery, where possible and practical, no later than March 20,” The News & Observer reports.
Additionally, the NCAA announced Wednesday that March Madness will take place with “limited attendance,” McClatchy News reports.
Only essential staff and “limited family attendance” will be allowed at games.
Timeline released
Health officials have worked to retrace the steps of five North Carolinans who tested positive for COVID-19, the Wake County Public Health Division said Tuesday. All five people attended a Biogen conference in Boston the last week in February and showed symptoms Feb. 29 to March 3, according to a news release.
Here’s the newest timeline from the county:
- Feb. 29: One patient cast a ballot at Millbrook Exchange Community Center, a voting site in Raleigh.
- March 2 to 5: Multiple people with symptoms worked at Biogen offices in Research Triangle Park.
- March 2 to 6: Several of the Biogen employees traveled through Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
- March 4: One patient dined at Zest Café & Home Art, a restaurant on Six Forks Road in Raleigh.
Wake County says officials will contact air passengers who may have been exposed to coronavirus.
State of emergency declared
North Carolina on Tuesday issued a state of emergency, one day after officials announced the number of coronavirus cases in the state rose to seven, Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference.
A state of emergency is a declaration that can come “during a situation or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury or loss of life or property,” according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
People are asked to stay away from large gatherings, especially if they are at risk of getting sick, Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said Tuesday.
Though state officials didn’t ask organizers to cancel big events, they urged planners to adopt “lenient” policies for people who fall ill.
Air travel impacted
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines said Tuesday they were reducing domestic flights due to concerns about COVID-19. They are the busiest airlines that operate through Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
American, the largest carrier serving Charlotte Douglas International Airport, “said the cuts are due to decreased travel demand from customers due to the new coronavirus,” The Charlotte Observer reported.
The two carriers didn’t specify which U.S. routes would be impacted, The News & Observer reported. JetBlue and United made similar announcements last week.
New cases reported
Five North Carolina residents are in isolation after they tested positive for COVID-19, Wake County said Monday. The new patients tested “presumptive positive,” and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to run second tests on them.
Now a total of seven cases of coronavirus have been reported in North Carolina.
Last month, the five new patients attended a Biogen conference in Boston, which has been linked to more than 24 coronavirus cases, according to health officials.
Another person, an Indiana resident who attended the biotechnology company’s conference and started having symptoms in its Research Triangle Park office on March 2, drove back home on Friday, The News & Observer reported. Biogen asked employees to stay home to work.
Other cases identified
Two other coronavirus patients are in North Carolina, health officials announced last week.
A Chatham County man tested positive for COVID-19 after he traveled in February to Italy, which has experienced an outbreak of the illness, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
A Wake County man who went to an affected long-term care facility in Washington state also tested positive for the disease, state officials said March 2. He had traveled through Raleigh-Durham International Airport on February 22 and ate at so.ca restaurant on Feb. 29, The News & Observer reported.
The patients tested presumptively positive.
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This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 8:44 AM.
