Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on May 1
We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date news about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Reported cases and deaths
North Carolina has at least 11,006 reported cases of the coronavirus as of Friday night, and 414 people have died, according to state and county health departments.
The state reported 414 new cases on Friday, down from 561 the day before, officials say.
About 5,800 new COVID-19 tests were completed as of Friday, for a total of 133,832 overall. Of those, 8% have come back positive, public health officials say.
At least 547 North Carolinians were in the hospital with COVID-19 on Friday, just shy of the record 551 hospitalizations reported on Wednesday.
As of Friday afternoon, the state was averaging 498 hospitalizations a day over the last seven days.
Only two counties have not reported a case of the virus, and at least one death has been reported in 60 of the state’s 100 counties.
FDA approves new drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization on Friday for the drug remdesivir on hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Remdesivir is an antiviral drug that’s been used to treat Ebola, McClatchy News reported.
It’s currently being studied in critical trials and is reportedly the first to show a “proven benefit” when used on coronavirus patients.
A study at UNC-Chapel Hill previously showed remdesivir reduces recovery time in coronavirus patients by an average of four days, The News and Observer reported.
Contact tracer applications
More than 1,000 people in North Carolina have applied for 250 contact tracer positions to find and follow-up with people potentially exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Friday.
Most occurred in the first 24 hours after the jobs were posted, McClatchy News reported.
“These are going to be people calling folks at their home, and sometimes even going in person, if necessary,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said during a press conference.
ZIP code data
State officials started releasing the number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases by ZIP code on Friday.
At least 10 counties previously released similar data, but places like Orange County had refused, citing medical privacy laws.
Statewide data can be found on the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services website. It will not include ZIP codes with fewer than 500 people and less than five cases, officials said.
Residents don’t want quick reopening, poll shows
A majority of North Carolinians don’t want a quick return to everyday activities, according to a recent poll by Meredith College.
About 75% of survey respondents said they don’t want schools to reopen, and most support Gov. Roy Cooper’s measured plans for reopening — including the extension of the stay-at-home order — despite protesters demanding those restrictions be lifted.
“Despite the claims of groups like ReOpenNC and President Trump about reopening the economy and getting back to normal, most North Carolinians are paying attention to public health professionals and seeing the impact of coronavirus firsthand,” David McLennan, director of the Meredith Poll, said in a statement.
More protests
A group of nine men, most with guns, gathered near downtown Raleigh to protest stay-at-home orders in North Carolina.
Though the city’s police said the men couldn’t protest while openly armed, the men said they “were not affiliated, in many cases did not know each other, and planned to demonstrate peacefully,” The News & Observer reported.
The protest came before American Revolution 2.0 was expected to rally in downtown Raleigh at noon Friday.
For the past three weeks, a group called ReOpenNC has organized protests, calling on Gov. Roy Cooper to lift coronavirus-related restrictions across the state.
In Mecklenburg County, an “offshoot” called Reopen Meck held a protest on Friday. The gathering drew about 15 people on foot and a parade of roughly 24 cars to uptown Charlotte.
The governor has extended the state’s stay-at-home order to May 8 in hopes of slowing the spread of the disease.
National park to reopen
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is set to start letting visitors come back in phases that start May 9. The park was among several outdoor sites closed due to the spread of COVID-19.
The park will reopen main roads and trails two weeks before visitors can access other roads, campgrounds, visitor centers and picnic shelters, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Great Smoky Mountains, which sits on the North Carolina and Tennessee border, is one of the most popular national park sites in the country.
Cooper hopeful about restrictions
Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday he’s “hopeful” the state will be able to ease some of the restrictions in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor’s statewide stay-at-home order is set to expire May 8, and North Carolina could then start to move into the first of three phases to gradually relax restrictions.
“We remain hopeful that the trends will be stable enough to move us into phase one next week,” Cooper said at a news conference on Thursday.
Care facility outbreaks
A third nursing home in Wake County has reported an outbreak of coronavirus cases, making it the 50th in the state.
Capital Nursing and Rehabilitation Care in Raleigh did not say how many cases it has, but the state defines an outbreak as two or more people — residents or staff — who test positive.
There are 1,649 cases of COVID-19 at nursing homes across the state, with 169 deaths.
Nearly half of all coronavirus-related deaths in Mecklenburg County are attributed to long-term care facilities, 12 of which have reported outbreaks in the county.
Cambridge Place, a Johnston County facility for new mothers and their babies, announced Thursday that a resident and an employee tested positive for the coronavirus.
Still no peak
Other states across the country have hit or passed their peaks for the number of new coronavirus cases reported in a day, the number of deaths or the number of hospitalizations.
But North Carolina is one of 20 states where cases are still climbing, analyses show.
Many areas that already peaked were hit sooner and harder with the pandemic than those that have been slower, The News & Observer reports.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 6:48 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on May 1."
