With NC entering Phase Two of reopening, more than 700 new cases of coronavirus reported
A day after Gov. Roy Cooper announced North Carolina was transitioning to a modified Phase Two of reopening, 738 more positive cases of COVID-19 were reported.
As of Thursday morning, the Department of Health and Human Services reported 716 deaths from the coronavirus in the state. That was an increase of 14 in the 24-hour reporting period.
In total, there have been 20,860 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state after an additional 9,661 tests were completed. DHHS reduced its case count by 50 on Thursday afternoon.
With increased testing in the state comes more lab-confirmed cases, but the percentage of positive tests has hovered at about 7%, acceptable enough to allow state health workers to approve of relaxing restrictions. Of the tests completed in the past 24 hours, the positive rate for the virus was 7.6%, according to News & Observer calculations.
The total number of cases and deaths will be under closer scrutiny as the state eases coronavirus restrictions under Phase Two, which begins Friday at 5 p.m. With restaurants, swimming pools, hair salons and barbershops allowed to reopen, there could be a spike in cases that causes state health officials concern, or the leveling off in some of the seven reopening benchmarks could continue in June.
“This is another high number of cases over one day and underscores the need to move cautiously as we ease restrictions,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said in a Thursday afternoon news conference.
DHHS also reported its first case of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C, a serious but rare syndrome that affects children and teenagers and is connected to coronavirus infection.
In the state, which has a total population of roughly 10.5 million, there has been a leveling of the number of people hospitalized by the virus and a decrease in the number of people presenting with COVID-like symptoms at hospital emergency departments.
There were 578 people hospitalized as of Thursday morning, an increase of 24 from Wednesday.
Safer at Home Phase Two
The modified “Safer at Home” Phase Two reopening in the state comes at a time when the novel coronavirus have risen sharply over the last two weeks in counties including Wayne, Duplin, Forsyth and Guilford.
In that time frame, cases have doubled in Forsyth and Duplin, with some of the increases coming because of outbreaks in prisons and meat-packing plants in those counties.
Cooper, Cohen and Cooper’s administration have outlined seven benchmarks in making decisions on reopening.
“We want to be protecting the public’s health as much as possible here,” Cohen said. “We think we’ve made some decisions in order to do that. As we look at our numbers, we see them remain stable.”
North Carolina’s testing numbers have sharply risen in recent weeks. But only about a fourth of the counties report their number of tests, and some are weeks behind in reporting.
The News & Observer is keeping its own count of cases and deaths. The state’s website is updated at 11 a.m., but county health departments continue to provide updates during the day. The N&O’s data shows 21,220 cases and 745 deaths.
As businesses begin opening, employees at personal care businesses must wear face coverings, Cohen said. Customers are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings in the businesses.
“The executive order does not require North Carolinans to wear face coverings outside the home.,” she said. “However, it is strongly, strongly recommended. Remember, people can have COVID-19 and not have any symptoms. Face coverings protect your loved ones and your neighbors.”
Safety at RDU airport
When people start flying again, they’ll find sneeze guards at ticketing counters, new boarding procedures and new hand-sanitizing stations at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, The News & Observer reported.
“We want to make sure we have all those things in place so when the customer comes back, they see something different and they feel confident they can fly and they can travel,” RDU president Michael Landguth said.
RDU is recommending, but not requiring, passengers wear masks.
Numbers of travelers using the airport have dropped 96% because of the pandemic.
Durham businesses not entering Phase Two
Restaurants, salons, and barbershops in Durham won’t opening Friday as part of Phase Two of the state’s plan to ease restrictions in the pandemic, The News & Observer reported.
Durham has its own, more strict order, and those businesses won’t be able to reopen until June 1. The Durham Board of Commissioners chairwoman said in a text that more details are coming Friday.
Restaurants have been able to offer take-out and delivery under the stay-at-home order that expires Friday. Durham is the North Carolina’s sixth most populous county, but is third in confirmed coronavirus cases.
Early starts for UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State this fall
The coronavirus pandemic has UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University planning to start and end the fall semester early, The News & Observer reported.
The semester will start Aug. 10, and finals will end before Thanksgiving. There will not be a fall break.
Universities around the country are adjusting their fall schedules to avoid having students return to campus after Thanksgiving, The New York Times reported. Universities want to avoid a second wave of infections in the fall, the newspaper reported, and want to reduce the possibility students could spread the virus through travel.
Staff writers Richard Stradling and Kate Murphy contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 11:53 AM.
