Gov. Cooper orders no utility shutoffs, urges landlords not to evict on April 1

Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order Tuesday prohibiting utilities from shutting off electricity, gas, water and wastewater service as hundreds of thousands lose their jobs during the coronavirus outbreak.

The order is effective immediately and will remain in force for 60 days. It directs utilities to give residential customers six months to pay late bills without added penalties or fees.

“This action is particularly important since tomorrow is the first of the month, and I know that’s a date many families fear when they can’t make ends meet,” Cooper said in announcing the order.

Charlotte-based Duke Energy is among utilities that have already voluntarily announced policies to prevent shutoffs.

More than 300,000 N.C. workers have filed unemployment claims in the past two weeks, Attorney General Josh Stein told reporters. Stein said his office is investigating 755 claims of price gouging.

Cooper’s order also encourages, but doesn’t require, banks not to charge overdraft or late fees, and landlords to delay evictions that are already in the court system.

Cheri Beasley, chief justice of the state Supreme Court, announced on March 15 a 30-day halt in eviction and foreclosure hearings for the next 30 days as part of an effort to slow spread of the coronavirus. Mecklenburg County has more than 30,000 evictions a year.

The state Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it will increase food stamp benefits in March and April, allowing an estimated 360,000 households across North Carolina to now receive the maximum amount.

For a family of four, that translates into about $650 each month, according to Mecklenburg County. Food and Nutrition Services will distribute the emergency aid between April 1 and April 22.

Mecklenburg’s Department of Social Services manages nearly 49,000 active Food & Nutrition Services cases, the county said. Residents with questions can contact DSS at 704-336-3000.

Mecklenburg County coronavirus cases rise

North Carolina health authorities reported 420 positive test results for the coronavirus in Mecklenburg County on Tuesday morning, a 24-hour gain of 38 cases and more than twice the total of any other county in the state.

Mecklenburg County reported 418 cases Tuesday, up from 333 on Monday.

Statewide, DHHS reported 1,498 cases, up nearly 200 cases since Monday, and ten deaths. The department said 157 patients are currently in hospitals.

A 78-year-old patient in Guilford County died Tuesday of complications from coronavirus, the county announced. Two people died Monday: A patient in Forsyth County who was in his or her early 90s and had underlying medical issues, and a victim in his or her late 80s in Cherokee County, county health departments reported.

Cases were reported Tuesday in some of Charlotte’s busiest places.

Two people who work in Wells Fargo’s Customer Information Center in University City tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the bank said. The center, one of the largest corporate campuses in the Charlotte area, usually houses about 9,000 workers.

Workers at two Charlotte area Lowe’s stores also tested positive — one at the Ballantyne store and the other at the Northlake location in north Charlotte, company officials said. The stores will stay open, “and we continue to take extra steps to clean the store beyond our daily cleaning protocols,” Lowe’s said.

About 75% of positive tests for COVID-19 through Saturday were for adults between 20 and 59 years old, the county reported Monday. About 20 percent of those testing positive had been hospitalized.

While infections have spread throughout the county, they vary widely by ZIP code and appear to disproportionately affect black residents.

While black residents make up 32.9% of the county’s population, they account for 43.9% of confirmed COVID-19 cases through Saturday. Unlike other racial and ethnic groups, in which younger adults account for most cases, 41% of the cases among black people were 60 or older.

Familiar names test positive

Familiar names in North Carolina are among those who’ve contracted the disease.

Mecklenburg Superior Court Judge Donnie Hoover’s wife, Josephine, was released from a hospital Monday after being admitted for treatment of COVID-19 symptoms. Hoover himself is self-quarantining at home after testing positive.

“Please know that the Lord answers prayer,” the judge texted. “He just returned my sweetheart to me.”

Two more employees of the North Carolina State Treasurer’s office have tested positive for COVID-19, the office said Monday, after State Treasurer Dale Folwell was diagnosed last week.

Singer-songwriter John Prine, who had been scheduled to perform at the now-canceled Wilkes County roots music festival MerleFest, was reported to be in critically ill condition with COVID-19.

Two inmates at the federal prison in Butner have tested positive for the coronavirus, just days after the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

In Durham, multiple coronavirus cases have been linked to a March 22 event hosted by a Faith Assembly event at Millennium Hotel Durham, county officials said Monday night.

Wake County officials said a driver tested positive after driving a transit bus for three days while sick. Passengers who rode the driver’s routes were told to isolate themselves if they show COVID-19 symptoms.

Watauga County and the towns of Beech Mountain, Blowing Rock, Boone and Seven Devils ordered that, effective at 5 p.m. Tuesday, people self-quarantine if they arrive in the county for overnight stays after staying overnight elsewhere.

The order is for residents and non-residents, with exceptions for “essential” workforce commuters. Self-quarantines are to last 14 days or seven days after COVID-19 symptoms end, whichever is longer.

Staff writer Alison Kuznitz contributed.

This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 11:22 AM.