Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on June 28
Click here for updates for June 29.
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 62,000
At least 62,142 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 1,322 have died, according to state and county health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday reported an additional 1,605 cases of the virus, down from 1,719 on Saturday. Four more people died.
At least 890 North Carolinians were hospitalized with COVID-19 Sunday, up slightly from 888 on Saturday.
On Sunday, 78% of hospitals reported data to the state, compared to 90% Saturday.
Health officials on Sunday reported completing an additional 16,774 tests, for a total of 871,905. The percentage of tests returned positive was 10%. Health officials have said that number should be closer to 5%.
The percent positive rate cannot be calculated by simply dividing the number of cases by the number of completed tests, mainly due to the timing of when tests are administered and when and how test results are submitted to the state from labs.
Outer Banks ferry ordered to resume
The North Carolina General Assembly has moved to reverse a decision to not operate the passenger ferry between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The N.C. Department of Transportation announced two months ago that the ferry would not be operating, citing the fact it’s designed to carry more than 100 people between the two islands and could spread COVID-19.
But the General Assembly included in a 23-page bill on NCDOT spending and policy a provision directing the department to run the ferry this summer. It provides $1.1 million to lease and operate the ferry.
The department says it will wait for Gov. Roy Cooper to sign the bill before bringing the ferry from New Jersey, where it currently is. It will take about two weeks to bring it back and inspect it.
The department would also likely limit the capacity and encourage the use of face masks and social distancing.
Judge denies bid to reopen by bars
Judge James Gale ruled Friday that bars in North Carolina will remain closed during Phase Two, finding Gov. Roy Cooper was “within his rights as governor to choose to keep bars closed as a means of slowing the spread of the coronavirus,” The News & Observer reported.
A group of 200 bars known as the North Carolina Bar & Tavern Association sued Cooper seeking to reopen earlier this month.
The bars argued they should not be treated differently than restaurants and breweries, which were allowed to reopen under Phase Two with certain social distancing guidelines in place. Cooper extended Phase Two for an additional three weeks on Wednesday.
Zack Medford, who owns Isaac Hunter’s Tavern in Raleigh and spearheaded the lawsuit, called another three weeks of closing a “death sentence” for bars.
Gale conceded in his opinion that Cooper’s “choices may be debatable” but said the bars could not prove his response to the coronavirus pandemic was “sufficiently irrational so as to be outside the realm of reasonableness.”
“Severe enforcement” threatened for bars
Several bars in Raleigh reopened Friday night hours after a judge’s ruling to keep them closed.
Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said in a text Saturday afternoon that she urges the bars to comply with Cooper’s executive order before more “severe enforcement action is required.”
“The bars are in violation of the Governor’s executive order,” she said.
Under Phase Two of North Carolina’s reopening plan, which the governor on Wednesday extended for three weeks, bars are not allowed to reopen.
This story was originally published June 28, 2020 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on June 28."
