4 more coronavirus cases reported in Mecklenburg County as COVID-19 spreads
Four more Mecklenburg County residents have tested presumptively positive for the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, bringing the countywide total to 11 cases.
Statewide, at least 48 cases in 16 counties were known by midday Tuesday. They’re likely to be the first of what could become thousands of cases by early April, heavily straining healthcare systems, a UNC Chapel Hill epidemiologist told Raleigh’s News & Observer.
North Carolina’s governor, healthcare providers and universities all announced steps Tuesday aimed at reducing the further spread of the virus.
Gov. Roy Cooper ordered restaurants and bars to close except for takeout and delivery orders, effective at 5 p.m. Tuesday. A number of other states have issued similar orders, including New York and Ohio, as officials try to limit public gatherings.
“The new reality is that employees will be losing jobs and businesses will close,” Cooper said.
His executive order included steps to make unemployment benefits more readily available. Among them are removing a one-week waiting period before applying for benefits, taking applications by phone and online and not holding employers responsible for benefits paid as a result of the outbreak.
The UNC System, which is trying to clear students from campuses, announced that all universities across the state will order students to return to their permanent homes by Monday. Exceptions may be granted for students who have a “significant need” to stay on campus.
UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois said all classes will be online or remote starting next Monday and for the rest of the semester. No decisions have been made about spring commencement, he said.
Charlotte’s biggest hospitals, Atrium Health and Novant Health, along with Winston-Salem-based Wake Forest Baptist Health, said they are rescheduling non-essential surgeries in response to the increase in coronavirus cases.
The hospital systems will reschedule non-essential surgeries, procedures and ambulatory appointments starting Wednesday. That will let the health care systems “conserve critical resources and focus care on those that need it most,” the three systems said in a statement.
An OrthoCarolina physician tested positive for COVID-19, the Charlotte orthopedic practice announced Tuesday morning. The unidentified physician works at OrthoCarolina’s Hip & Knee Center in Mercy Hospital and is in quarantine at home.
Mass gathering bans
Mecklenburg County’s health director signed an order Monday banning gatherings of 50 or more people as coronavirus cases.
Public health director Gibbie Harris’ ban exceeded a mass-gatherings limit of 100 that Cooper had ordered Saturday. State health officials on Monday recommended that gatherings be limited to 50 or fewer people, and the Trump administration issued guidelines recommending crowds of no more than 10 people.
The Mecklenburg ban won’t apply to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, churches, office space, shelters, hospitals, gyms or restaurants. But it could intrude into personal lives, curtailing events such as weddings, birthday parties, as well as training and meetings.
A Charlotte-based company and the city partnered on $2 million in pledges to help those who are already feeling the outbreak’s financial pinch.
Online financial services firm LendingTree announced a $1 million donation, which the city said it would match, to a new community fund to aid organizations that work with those affected by the virus. Foundation for the Carolinas and United Way of Central Carolinas launched the COVID-19 Response Fund.
The CMS Foundation, a nonprofit arm of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, separately announced a relief fund to help students and their families during the outbreak.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, coughing and shortness of breath. Anyone with symptoms should call their doctor or the health department before visiting in-person. Mecklenburg County’s coronavirus hotline is 980-314-9400.
Mecklenburg declared a state of emergency Sunday after two more residents tested presumptively positive for COVID-19. The move is key to getting state and federal funding help to fight the pandemic, county officials said. State and local health officials have said they need more test supplies to gauge the spread of the virus and detect new cases.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 11:23 AM.