Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on July 7
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We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases top 75,000
At least 75,875 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 1,420 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday reported an additional 1,346 cases of the virus, down from 1,546 reported on Monday.
As of Tuesday, state officials reported completing more than 1 million coronavirus tests, about 9% of which have come back positive.
Health officials estimate 55,318 people in North Carolina are “presumed recovered” from the virus. Data on recoveries is released once a week, on Mondays.
Hospitalizations hit another record
The number of people reported hospitalized with COVID-19 reached another single-day high on Tuesday, with 989.
Tuesday’s total was a jump from the 982 hospitalizations reported Monday, which was the state’s previous record.
More than 900 hospitalizations have been reported in the state every day since June 30, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
About 89% of hospitals reported data to the state on Tuesday, compared to 81% the day before.
Roughly 71% of inpatient beds and 75% ICU beds were in use as of Tuesday, according to the state health department.
Access to testing eased
State health officials have made it easier for people to get tested for the coronavirus and to track results.
A referral from a doctor will no longer be required to get a test under a new plan announced Tuesday by the N.C. DHHS. Testing sites will also be allowed to receive results directly from laboratories.
The state is also opening 300 temporary testing locations that will cover 100 zip codes with limited access to testing, Dr. Mandy Cohen, N.C. DHHS secretary said. They will be open until the end of the month and aim to improve testing access for African-American, LatinX and American Indian communities.
Inmates to quarantine at hotel
People exposed to the coronavirus while at a North Carolina prison will quarantine in a hotel after completing their sentence.
The N.C. Department of Public Safety will rent the 114-room Quality Inn & Suites on Hillsborough Road in Durham to house over 100 people as part of a pilot program.
Those selected for the program “have no other suitable residence plan in which to complete their quarantine period,” DPS communications officer Greg Thomas told The News & Observer on Tuesday. Once their quarantine is over, they will be relocated to their home counties.
The state expects the program, including the rooms, food and other services, to cost $1 million.
Outbreak at homeless shelter
Three residents at an emergency homeless shelter in Durham have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Operators of the shelter, run by Urban Ministries of Durham, were told June 29 that a hospitalized resident had tested positive. All residents and workers were then tested for the virus and two other cases, both asymptomatic, were found among the residents. All staff members were negative.
Both residents are in isolation.
This is the second coronavirus outbreak at a homeless shelter in Durham. A mother and three children at the Durham Rescue Mission’s shelter for women and children tested positive for COVID-19 in June, The News & Observer reported.
Experiencing homelessness is “essentially an underlying condition” that puts people at a higher risk of a severe case of the coronavirus, Dr. Brian Klausner, a WakeMed doctor, told The News & Observer in April.
Some bowling alleys can reopen
Some bowling alleys in North Carolina won the right to reopen in court Tuesday.
Gov. Roy Cooper has faced multiple legal battles over coronavirus executive orders. Lawsuits have been filed by gym and bar owners, strip clubs and churches. The governor has won battles over strip clubs and bars. But he’s lost others over churches and now bowling alleys.
Wake County Superior Court Judge James Gale said Cooper has allowed other types of indoor businesses to reopen under Phase Two and didn’t give a good enough reason why bowling alleys should remain closed.
But the ruling doesn’t apply to every bowling alley in the state — only the 75 businesses that are members of the North Carolina Bowling Proprietors Association. It’s unclear which businesses are included on that list.
The group has promised to “commit to operational changes to address those factors, including procedures for social distancing and sanitation, and, most significantly, requiring employees and bowlers to wear face coverings,” the judge wrote, and requiring them to stay closed was “unfair.”
Safety requirements at the bowling alleys will include keeping every other lane empty, using fiberglass dividers between them and requiring frequent cleaning of shoes, bowling balls and other items.
Outbreak at child care center
A coronavirus outbreak was reported at another Mecklenburg County child care center on Tuesday.
Heaven’s Angels Childcare in Charlotte has an active outbreak of the virus, county officials say. In late June, the county reported the first local child care center outbreak.
A total of 22 other facilities in the county have ongoing outbreaks — including at nursing homes, rehab centers, group homes and the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.
Raleigh cancels events
The Raleigh City Council on Tuesday voted to cancel or postpone all festivals, road races and parades in the city through at least October.
Many special events in the city had already been canceled or postponed. Since March 14, large events that require a special use permit, such as Hopscotch Music Festival and Dreamville Music Festival, have been canceled or moved back. But some groups were still waiting for official guidance before deciding what to do about holding events.
The new decision will affect events like Brewgaloo, Artsplosure, Cuegrass, Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo and Raleigh Tamale Festival. It doesn’t apply to the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources programs and the Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex.
Additionally, the N.C. State Fair hasn’t been canceled yet. It’s scheduled for Oct. 15-25 and North Carolina’s Department of Agriculture hasn’t made a decision yet on whether to cancel it. Preparations are underway in case it can take place.
Mask use varies at NC jails
Face mask policies vary among local jails in North Carolina.
The use of masks is required by the public under an executive order for Gov. Roy Cooper. But in local jails, mask mandates are left to individual counties to decide.
Some provide masks or require them, while others encourage employees who interact with inmates to wear them. But some experts say conditions at local jails put inmates and staff at an especially high risk of contracting the virus.
Outbreaks have been reported at multiple jails across the state, and social distancing and other protective measures are difficult in these settings.
“The mask is actually in many ways about community protection,” Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, an associate professor at the UNC School of Medicine who has studied the impacts of incarceration on health, told The N&O. “In prison and jail settings, where you can’t engage in some of the other prevention activities, such as social distancing, masks become much more important.”
More testing can’t explain all cases in Charlotte area
The Charlotte area’s recent rise in coronavirus cases isn’t only due to more testing for the disease, according to an analysis from The Charlotte Observer.
While Mecklenburg County’s jumps in COVID-19 cases largely paralleled increased testing in April and May, that wasn’t always the case in June. That month, testing alone can’t explain the growing caseload.
“There’s definitely more at play,” Dr. Katie Passaretti of Atrium Health told The Charlotte Observer. “We’ve clearly seen over the past weeks, really since Memorial Day, a steady creep in the hospitalizations across the state.”
Data show more people were infected in the Charlotte area as officials relaxed coronavirus-related restrictions and expanded the capacity to test for the disease.
PPP loan data show economic damage in NC
Nearly 122,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans were completed in North Carolina as of June 30.
The U.S. Small Business Administration on Monday released the names of the largest recipients of PPE loans, which were designed to help companies affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The loans received in North Carolina were worth over $12.4 billion in total.
More than 16,300 North Carolina companies received loans of more than $150,000, and 105,590 received loans of less than $150,000, data show. Of the loans above $150,000, 60% were less than $350,000. But 100 companies got loans between $5 million and $10 million.
About a quarter of all PPP loans went to Triangle companies, but the largest number of loans above $150,000 went to companies in Charlotte.
Overall, loans under $150,000 retained 497,003 jobs in North Carolina and loans over $150,000 retained 696,313, according to the data.
More train services cut
Passenger train services in North Carolina have been reduced again due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Amtrak reduced the number of trains it runs between New York and Florida starting this week. The Silver Star and Silver Meteor, which have stops in North Carolina, are going from daily round trips to running on different days of the week — meaning there will be only one train between New York and Miami each day instead of two.
Travel of all kind has dropped due to the pandemic, and Amtrak has been hit hard as well. In late May, demand was at about 5% the normal level, The News & Observer reported.
Another Butner inmate dies
Another inmate at Butner federal prison has died from COVID-19, officials said Monday.
Jack Edward Talledo, 61, tested positive for the virus on June 1 and died at a local hospital Sunday. He had preexisting conditions that put him at a higher risk, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
The Federal Correction Complex at Butner, which is about 35 miles north of Raleigh, has one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the federal prison system. As of Sunday, 16 inmates and one staff member at the low-security facility had died.
The low-security facility houses 1,130 men. As of Sunday, 556 inmates had active infections.
Renaissance festival canceled
The annual Carolina Renaissance Festival has been canceled due to the coronavirus.
The festival, which takes place each fall just north of Charlotte, is one of the largest outdoor Renaissance-themed events in the country and usually attracts more than 200,000 attendees.
Bars denied payment extension
North Carolina bar owners didn’t get extra time to pay permit renewal fees.
State lawmakers had proposed allowing bars, which are currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, to delay paying Alcoholic Beverage Control permit renewal fees until 90 days after the businesses reopened. But the measure didn’t pass in both chambers of the state legislature, meaning bars had to pay to be able to sell alcohol.
Permits usually cost about $2,200.
Bars have been shuttered since March in North Carolina as an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus and haven’t been allowed to reopen yet under North Carolina’s reopening plan.
“It’s a slap in the face to still be forced to come out of pocket to pay for an ABC license that you will never be able to use,” Zack Medford of the N.C. Bar and Tavern Association told The N&O.
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 7:03 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on July 7."
