NC coronavirus cases rise, including nursing facility outbreaks in Orange County and elsewhere
As North Carolina’s coronavirus cases pushed beyond 3,500 on Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper said at least 60 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in a skilled nursing facility in Orange County.
The governor said seven of those 60 people are hospitalized and two have died. He said more cases from that center are likely to come.
Eighteen of the 21 outbreaks throughout the state are in long-term care settings, Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, added at a Wednesday afternoon news conference with the governor.
The state will now require all nursing home staff members to wear masks and all facilities to close communal areas. Facilities will also screen staffers daily and are now required to report all new or suspected cases to the state health department.
Meanwhile, the Moore County Health Department said that more than 30 people at a nursing facility in Pinehurst have tested positive for COVID-19.
After a person linked to Pinehurst Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center tested positive last weekend, the county’s health department tested all 96 residents and the 115-person staff on Monday and Tuesday. Of those 96 residents, 26 tested positive for the illness caused by the coronavirus. Five staff members also tested positive. Not all results from the tests have come back, and those who have tested positive have been isolated.
On Wednesday evening, the Orange County Health Department said the 60 cases were at PruittHealth-Carolina Point, on Mt. Sinai Road near the Orange-Durham county line. The department also said three people had tested positive at another long-term care facility in Orange County, Signature HealthCARE in Chapel Hill.
More test results are pending for both facilities.
PruittHealth began operating at “Code Red status” and working with public health officials to implement an “enhanced infection prevention protocol” after receiving its first positive test results, according to a statement Wednesday night from the company’s communications department.
The center began monitoring staff levels and providing personal protective equipment, it said, while also installing an air scrubber system and isolation units. Meanwhile, staff worked with Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill to test all of the residents, it said.
“This is unprecedented,” according to the statement. “Thanks to them, we were able to test 100 percent of the residents in just 48 hours. We are actively communicating with these residents’ families.
Making hospital beds available if needed
Cooper also signed an executive order Wednesday that will put more healthcare providers and resources into the system and increase the number of hospital beds that may be needed for the crisis.
To help handle the possible overflow of patients if North Carolina’s hospitals reach capacity during the pandemic, the state is leasing part of a former hospital in the town of Hamlet.
The former Sandhills Regional Medical Center would be used for non-COVID-19, non-surgical patients who are not critically ill, according to the Division of Emergency Management. Taking these patients would give hospitals more room to treat people infected with coronavirus.
DHHS reported 3,426 confirmed cases Wednesday, topping Tuesday’s total of 3,221. The increase of 205 is slightly smaller than daily increases earlier this week, but still triple-digit growth in the statewide epidemic.
After eight full days under the governor’s stay-home order, the state has now tested 42,987 people for the virus. Of all those who are sick, 386 are hospitalized statewide.
The News & Observer is keeping a separate coronavirus tally based on reporting from the state and county health departments, which is typically higher because cases take longer to confirm at the county level. As of Wednesday evening, that count stood at 3,569 with 63 deaths.
Nash County reported its first death from COVID-19: a patient in their 70s with unrelated health issues.
“Today’s heartbreaking news is a sad reminder of the dangers of COVID-19,” said Health Department Director William Hill Jr. “I want the community to know that their decisions impact the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Cumberland County also confirmed its first death of a resident from COVID-19-related complications. The person was in their 40s and had traveled to Georgia and died there on April 6. No other information was released.
Triangle counties reported at least 29 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Wake County had its smallest increase in 17 days, reporting 5 new cases for a total of 368.
Durham County reported 16 new cases, bringing its total to 235.
Who are the COVID-19 patients?
According to data gathered by McClatchy, people ages 25 to 59 account for the highest portion (41%) of reported cases in North Carolina, so far.
By comparison, people over 65 make up just 20% of reported cases.
But the numbers flip when it comes to recorded deaths — 80% were over the age of 65, state health officials report.
Mortality rates are “clearly dominated” by the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, said Dr. Cameron R. Wolfe, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University.
“But if you think of who would be more likely exposed to a respiratory virus that’s spread via droplet, it’s going to be (those) who are in far more frequent contact with other people,” he said. Wolfe said most people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s will be going “around a wide variety of people each day” — whether it be going to work, the grocery store, a restaurant or the gym.
The numbers also show that older North Carolinians might be doing a better job of heeding mandates and the advice of health experts who tell them to stay home and practice social distancing.
In Wake County, nearly half of the cases are people between the ages of 35 and 54. Those over 65 account for just 47 cases.
Changes reported for fire departments, grocery stores
Durham County announced it will change its emergency protocols by sending fire crews to only the most severe medical calls, including cardiac arrest and car crashes.
Wake County, meanwhile, has received a $100,000 donation, from an anonymous giver, for use in fighting the virus. County officials said the money will go toward running the emergency operations center, which has already cost roughly $3.8 million.
A Research Triangle Park-based company has received emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for an antibody-based test it developed for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The company, Cellex, received authorization to begin using the test from the FDA on April 1.
In retail news, the Matthews, NC-based Harris Teeter grocery chain joined others — including Target, Lowes Home Improvement, Home Depot and some Trader Joe’s stores — in limiting the number of customers allowed inside its stores at one time. Harris Teeter said in an online statement Wednesday that stores “will limit the number of customers to 50% of building code capacity ... to further support physical distancing in our stores ... store associates will monitor the number of customers to ensure the capacity limit is maintained.”
Staff writers Jonathan M. Alexander, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Steve Wiseman, Richard Stradling, Zachary Eanes and Haley Fowler contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 11:51 AM.
