Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Sept. 19
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases surpass 192,000
At least 192,248 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,235 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Saturday reported 1,229 new COVID-19 cases, down from 1,443 reported the day before. North Carolina’s seven-day average for new cases was 1,248 on Friday, compared to the seven-day average of 1,147 on Sept. 11.
Twenty-eight coronavirus-related deaths were reported Saturday.
About 4.8% of tests were reported positive as of Saturday. That’s below health officials’ goal of 5% or lower. Monday’s positive rate of 5.8% had been the highest percentage reported in six days.
At least 882 people in North Carolina were reportedly hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Saturday, with 96% of the state’s hospitals reporting, down from 904 hospitalizations reported the day before.
Parents allowed to attend college football games
Gov. Roy Cooper will allow parents to attend Saturday’s football game at N.C. State University against Wake Forest.
At least 350 tickets were allotted for parents with players given two tickets each, The News & Observer reported. Wake Forest will be given 100 tickets as well.
UNC-Chapel Hill is also allowing parents to attend its next home game against Virginia Tech on Oct. 10.
A letter from the governor’s office on Friday requested parents “maintain the 3Ws protocol,” meaning washing hands frequently, wearing a mask, and waiting to maintain a safe distance of six feet with other spectators.
“We understand that parents and close family members are accustomed to, and look forward to seeing their athletes play games and that not being there is incredibly difficult,” Kelly Connor, spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement. “DHHS is supportive of higher education institutions developing plans and protocols for game-day operations that mitigate risk as much as possible to keep players, coaches, staff, parents and close family members as safe as possible.
Black voters’ absentee ballots rejected at higher rate
Data from North Carolina’s State Board of Elections show absentee ballots from Black voters have been rejected at three times the rate of white voters.
The state Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday alleging North Carolina’s rules on absentee voting disenfranchise “voters who may inadvertently make a mistake in filling out their ballot,” The Charlotte Observer reported
“We are in the middle of a pandemic that makes voting by mail a critical, safe way to access the ballot for many,” Cheri Bustos, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
At least 815 of 17,500 ballots returned by Black voters through Thursday had been rejected because of incomplete information, resulting in a 4.6% rejection rate. Only about 1.6% of ballots from white voters were rejected for the same reason.
State election officials “had no explanation for the discrepancy Friday,” according to the Observer.
Eight COVID-19 cases linked to brewery. Get tested if you were there.
Health officials say they’ve linked eight coronavirus cases to a brewery in downtown Kannapolis.
Anyone who visited Old Armor Beer Company in the past two weeks should monitor for symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and those customers should consider getting a COVID-19 test, Cabarrus County Health Alliance officials said Friday.
“With eight confirmed cases within a 14-day window that all identified attending the brewery, public health officials have the responsibility to make the community aware,” Bonnie Coyle, Cabarrus County’s public health director, said in a news release.
Old Armor Beer Co.’s management said the brewery is following “appropriate safety procedures related to restaurant capacity, cleaning and disinfecting, requiring staff and patrons to wear masks, and table spacing to ensure social distancing,” according to the release by the Health Alliance, the county’s public health authority.
Brewery management also told health officials they performed a deep cleaning and encouraged all staff members to get tested, monitor symptoms and comply with COVID-19 prevention guidelines of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Unemployment rate drops in NC
The unemployment rate in North Carolina fell to 6.5% in August, down from 8.5% in July. It’s the lowest rate since before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
But the drop also represents a decline in the workforce overall, The News & Observer reported.
The seasonally adjusted workforce went from 4.897 million to 4.825 million between July and August, meaning it fell by more than 70,000 people, or 1.5%.
“The numbers suggest that with so many companies closed due to the pandemic, many jobless North Carolina residents have given up looking for work,” The N&O reported, citing Charles Monteith, an employment lawyer who formerly served as deputy chief counsel at the Division of Employment Security.
Monteith said backlogs of unemployment claims and barriers in the application system fatigued many.
“People give up. Just like people give up and stop looking for work — ‘There’s no jobs out there, I’m just going to give up.’ It’s not hard for people to give up in the middle of a pandemic,” Monteith said in a phone interview with The News & Observer.
Labor organizations push for COVID-19 protections
Farmworker advocacy groups have turned to the N.C. Department of Labor for help after Gov. Cooper backtracked on issuing an executive order that would protect farmworkers and meatpackers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The groups, including the North Carolina Justice Center, the AFL-CIO and NC Raise Up/Fight for $15, held a virtual conference Friday. They demanded Cherie Berry, the Republican labor commissioner, “issue an Emergency Infectious Disease Standard to protect largely Latino immigrant essential workers,” The News & Observer reported.
Latinos and immigrant workers have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.
“Far too many of North Carolina’s essential workers are working in unsafe conditions to keep the state’s economy running in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the organizations said in a joint press release. “These workers, while deemed essential, have been too often forced to work without adequate personal protective equipment, in crowded and poorly ventilated conditions, and without wellness checks.”
The advocacy groups want employers to be required to implement a set of mandatory infection control standards, according to The N&O.
Teacher’s group pushes back on reopening elementary schools
The North Carolina Association of Educators is asking teachers to lobby their school districts not to reopen after state leaders announced they could reopen elementary schools as soon as Oct. 5.
NCAE leaders said the move “endangers students and school employees” , The News & Observer reported.
Cooper had announced on Thursday that school districts can reopen elementary schools for daily in-person learning with “minimal social distancing” measures, but said middle and high schools will still be subject to the moderate social distancing requirements that limit how many students can be on campus.
NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly issued a statement saying “loosening guidelines further is flirting with danger.”
State Republican leaders and parents had pressured Cooper earlier in the week to give families the choice of fully in-person instruction at schools, but some Democrats have backed the state’s plan, saying it’s good to err on the side of caution when it comes to a full return to school.
The NCAE asked teachers Thursday how far they’d be willing to go to prevent elementary schools from reopening, including possibly going on strike.
“If enough employees, particularly teachers, refuse to work it would tax school districts’ ability to find enough substitutes to reopen elementary schools under Plan A,” The N&O reported. “Teachers aren’t allowed under state law to strike, but they can call in sick or request alternatives to working on campus.”
Answers to frequently asked questions about the decision to reopen elementary schools can be found here.
A glimpse inside Charlotte’s quarantine hotel
Aaron Hall, a 32-year-old from Kansas City, spent 10 days at an Econo Lodge near the Charlotte Douglas International Airport being used as a quarantine hotel during the coronavirus pandemic.
His stay was marked with black mold, inedible food and “inconsistent information about when he’d be released from isolation,” The Charlotte Observer reported after hours of interviews over several weeks.
Hall flew to Charlotte from Chicago in early August to purchase a car. He got got sick, then checked into the hotel county health officials started leasing almost six months ago, at the start of the pandemic. About 350 people have stayed at the hotel during that time, the Observer reported. The operation has cost taxpayers around $1 million as of Sept. 11.
Most of the people who have stayed at the Econo Lodge are experiencing homelessness.
Armed guards patrol the hotel, and guests are forbidden from using drugs or alcohol, smoking, having visitors, receiving deliveries or leaving their rooms.
Hall was moved to a second room after four nights when he found black mold, according to the Observer.
“It’s not good, but you just do the best you can,” Hall said. “I’m still grateful for a place to stay. But that was kind of frustrating.”
Businesses continue to struggle
Much of downtown Raleigh remains boarded up after the pandemic forced businesses to shutter. Now many fear the worst.
A survey of more than 200 small business owners conducted by the nonprofit Shop Local Raleigh found less than a third think their businesses will survive the pandemic, The News & Observer reported. Half said they weren’t sure, and 10% responded their businesses won’t make it.
“Downtown, we’re doomed,” Taiseer “Taz” Zarka, who owns a convenience store downtown, told The N&O. “If it’s gonna continue as this, everybody’s gonna go. You’re gonna see a lot of doors are closed.”
Some businesses were also damaged during protests in response to police brutality earlier this summer. At least 71 incidents of property damage were reported between May 30 and June 1, the Raleigh Police Department said in a report.
Sales and foot traffic have improved incrementally, but they’re still far from where they need to be.
Many downtown businesses feel like local government has turned its back on them, The N&O reported. Of respondents to the Shop Local Raleigh survey, 75% said “no” when asked if the Raleigh City Council and Wake County Board of Commissioners have “the best interest” of the small business community in mind.
“The same number said they do not support the actions of Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin or the City Council in response to both the pandemic and the civil unrest,” according to The N&O.
COVID-19 safety at Fayetteville Trump rally
President Donald Trump will be in Fayetteville on Saturday for a campaign rally where the public is encouraged to wear masks and temperature checks will be required.
The Trump campaign has also said it will hand out masks for those who need them, but face coverings “have not been mandatory or even widely used at previous Trump events,” The News & Observer reported.
The county health director advises guests stay six feet apart during the rally.
Participants can register for a maximum of two tickets for the rally, which will take place at the Fayetteville Regional Airport. Gates open at 3 p.m. but the rally isn’t expected to start until 6 p.m., according to the N&O.
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 8:28 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Sept. 19."
