Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Oct. 12
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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 232,000
At least 232,747 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 3,773 have died, according to state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday reported 1,276 new COVID-19 cases, down from 1,719 the day before.
Three coronavirus-related deaths were reported Monday.
About 6% of tests were reported positive on Saturday, the most recent day available. That’s higher than the 5% target set by health officials.
At least 1,109 people in North Carolina were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday, up from 1,046 the day before and the highest single-day total since early August.
NC to test prison staff
All employees at three of North Carolina’s state prisons will be tested for COVID-19 in a pilot project aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.
About 10% of the state’s prison inmates have been infected by the coronavirus, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Testing began Monday and will be completed at the Scotland Correctional Institution in Lauringburg, the Dan River Work Farm, northeast of Greensboro, and the Greene Correctional Institution, about 80 miles east of Raleigh. Scotland Correctional has had one of the worst prison outbreaks in the state with more than 400 cases among inmates.
At least 1,050 of North Carolina’s 14,000 prison staff members have contracted COVID-19 and at least one has died, according to the Observer.
“This is another strategy to curb the introduction of the virus into our prisons,” state prisons Commissioner Todd Ishee said. “Staff safety during this pandemic is a top priority. This will help to keep them healthy, their families safer from the virus, and will better protect the offender populations.”
Debate over reopening schools looms in superintendent race
North Carolina’s candidates for state superintendent of public instruction have two different plans for how to help public school students during the coronavirus pandemic.
Parents, students and educators have debated when and how to safely reopen the state’s public schools for in-person instruction, many of which have been closed since mid-March, The News & Observer reported. Some parents say virtual learning isn’t working, but teachers are worried about the exposure to COVID-19 if they go back.
Catherine Truitt, a Republican and chancellor of Western Governors University North Carolina who was education adviser to former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, has said Gov. Roy Cooper should have given school districts the autonomy to fully reopen.
“What we wound up getting is a one-size-fits-all for whether or not a school should be in session,” Truitt said at a Sept. 24 candidate forum at Meredith College in Raleigh, hosted by Spectrum News. “I would have rather seen that decision left up to local districts.”
But Jen Mangrum, a Democrat and associate professor at UNC Greensboro’s School of Education, said the decision to reopen should be based on the state’s COVID-19 metrics and bolstered by the necessary personal protective equipment to help teachers feel safe.
“Educators are afraid,” Mangrum said in a meeting with the editorial boards of The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer. “They’re very concerned, and I think they have reason to be.”
School system moves to remote learning
Stanly County Schools has temporarily moved students to remote learning due to increased spread of COVID-19 in the community.
The school board voted during an emergency meeting Saturday to hold remote classes for two weeks, saying the health department recommended the switch to help curb the spread of the virus, the Charlotte Observer reported.
“Due to increased community spread of COVID-19 and despite the efforts undertaken by the school system thus far, we have a coordinated recommendation from the Stanly County Health Department and Stanly County Schools’ administrative team to go full remote for a two-week period,” the motion said.
Stanly County is just outside Charlotte.
North Carolina public schools were allowed to reopen for the academic year with a mix of in-person and remote instruction, limited capacities and other restrictions, and Gov. Roy Cooper allowed districts to reopen their elementary schools for full-time in-person learning starting Oct. 5.
Stanly County’s decision comes as a Charlotte school has shut down football activities.
Providence Day School is pausing football activities after a player tested positive for COVID-19.
The test came back positive on Friday after the player started showing symptoms last week, the Observer reported. The school has been contact tracing to see if others may have been exposed.
“Right now, we are pausing on all football activities until further notice,” athletic director Nancy Beatty told the Observer.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced major changes to high school football schedules across the country.
North Carolina has moved public high school football to 2021. The N.C. High School Athletic Association teams will begin football practice Feb. 8.
Southwest adds new routes to Charlotte
Two nonstop routes by Southwest Airlines are coming to Charlotte Douglas International Airport after flights ground to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic.
Starting Nov. 4, Southwest will operate daily flights from CLT to Denver and seasonal flights from CLT to Phoenix, The Charlotte Observer reported. The seasonal flights to Phoenix will be offered on certain peak days around the holidays in November and December and then daily in February and March.
Southwest currently operates nine flights a day out of Charlotte to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dallas Love Field and Chicago Midway International Airport, Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish told The Observer.
Trump to visit NC after COVID-19 hospitalization
President Donald Trump is set to hold a North Carolina campaign rally after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.
The rally is set to take place in Greenville on Thursday, almost two weeks after his diagnosis sent him to the hospital. White House Physician Dr. Sean P. Conley over the weekend wrote in a memo that the president wasn’t contagious.
“All attendees at the Greenville event will receive temperature checks and be given masks, according to the Trump campaign,” The News & Observer reported Sunday. “Hand sanitizer will also be available.”
Those precautions weren’t announced for the president’s previous campaign events, including a Winston-Salem rally on Sept. 8.
Restaurants find sweet spot for outdoor dining
Restaurants forced to shut down during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic — many of which didn’t reopen when the state eased restrictions — are now “finding themselves with a seasonal sweet spot.”
With the weather cooler, some are opting to reopen with outdoor-only dining after months of exclusively serving takeout.
“It definitely feels like this is our shot,” Cheetie Kumar, who owns Garland restaurant in downtown Raleigh, told The News & Observer. “This is a big bridge for us. We don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s tension mounting with the election, the weather’s changing.”
Lee-Ann Jaykus, a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor at N.C. State who’s been working with the food industry on COVID-19 transmission, said eating outside is the less risky option “because the air flow disperses the virus and the UV light makes it less infectious,” The N&O reported.
But the impending winter brings a new set of challenges. Some restaurants say they’ll keep investing in outdoor seating and bring in heaters to make it more comfortable.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in North Carolina on Oct. 12."
