GREENSBORO, N.C. — Get the latest COVID-19 updates from Gov. Roy Cooper and the state task force, health departments, universities, school districts, and more in this story. We'll put North Carolina's COVID-19 numbers in context for you, and explain what it could mean for the reopening process. Call the North Carolina Coronavirus Hotline at 866-462-3821 or 2-1-1 for immediate questions.
Key updates:
- Gov. Cooper's modified stay-at-home order will go into effect on Friday. The state will be under a curfew from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m.
- Statewide hospitalizations hit another consecutive record Thursday.
- NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said the COVID-19 vaccine could be shipped in North Carolina 'within the next few days.'
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2020
3 p.m. - Guilford County sheriff deputy dies due to COVID-19
The Guilford County Sheriff's Office is mourning the loss of one of their own.
According to the sheriff's office, Master Corporal Deputy Sheriff Norman Daye died Saturday at his home in eastern Guilford County after a battle with COVID-19.
Officials said he was a 16-year veteran of the Guilford County Sheriff's Office, having started his career with the Orange County NC Sheriff's Office.
Noon - NCDHHS releases Sunday's latest coronavirus numbers
- Newly-reported cases: 6,819
- Total cases: 436,595
- Hospitalizations: 2,520
- Completed tests: 5,970,489
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2020
11 p.m. - Clorox wipes aren't expected to fully return to store shelves in stock until mid next-year, according to a CBS report.
Clorox ships nearly a million packages of disinfecting wipes to stores across the U.S. every day, and the company expects to boost output 50% to 1.5 million by February. Despite stepping up its production, the company still doesn't expect to fully stock shelves until the middle of next year.
Noon - NCDHHS releases latest COVID-19 data statewide
- Newly-reported cases: 6,153
- Total cases: 429,776
- Hospitalizations: 2,577
- Completed tests: 5,906,830
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020
1 p.m. -- The Alamance-Burlington School System confirms COVID-19 is affecting sports programs. ABSS reports some high school volleyball teams have had activities interrupted recently due to covid-related issues.
ABSS issued the following statement:
High school sports activities that have suspected or positive covid cases that may be related to teams or coaching staff follow all health and safety protocols as outlined by the NCHSAA and guidance provided by our local health department and our school nurses. For our athletics program, teams will suspend practices and/or competitions as necessary based on guidance received by the NCHSAA and the local health department related to suspected or positive cases. Teams will resume practice and or competition following the NCHSAA guidelines and guidance from our local health department.
ABSS posts a weekly dashboard each Friday that shows the number of identified positive cases across the district for the current week, including any clusters of 5 or more related cases, per the Alamance County Health Department.
12:00 p.m. -- COVID-19 cases broke another single-day record in North Carolina on Friday with more than 7,500 lab-confirmed cases. That's up more than 1,000 from the previous record from just two days ago.
Hospitalizations also hit another consecutive record with more than 2,500 statewide, up around 100 more than the previous day.
Cone Health also hit another record for hospitalizations with 185 patients, 22 of them in the ICU. A spokesperson confirmed there is still capacity and there are multiple contingency plans.
- Newly-reported cases: 7,540
- Total cases: 423,623
- Hospitalizations: 2,514
- Total deaths: 5,752
- Percent positive: 10.4%
- Testing turnaround: 3.1 days
9:20 a.m. - Rockingham County Courts will be closed "due to an increase in COVID (19) exposure.
All court will be canceled effective Monday and resume on Jan. 11. For more information about the closure, please call the Rockingham County Court at 336-634-6000.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2020
2 p.m. - Forsyth Health Daily COVID-19 press briefing. Forsyth County Health Officials give a press conference on how the county is handling the coronavirus and break down the latest numbers.
12:30 p.m. - Statewide hospitalizations hit another consecutive record, up just slightly from Wednesday, according to the latest NCDHHS data. New cases decreased slightly from Wednesday's record high. The testing turnaround time is slowing down. It's taking about 2.7 days on average to get results back. Here's a look at Thursday's data:
- Newly-confirmed cases: 5,556
- Total cases: 416,083
- Current hospitalizations: 2,444
- Percent positive: 10.5%
- Total deaths: 5,714
- Testing turnaround: 2.7 days
11 a.m. -- NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen and Division of Public Health Pharmacist Dr. Amanda Fuller Moore held a media briefing regarding COVID-19 vaccines and how they will be distributed in North Carolina.
Cohen said the COVID-19 vaccine could be shipped in North Carolina 'within the next few days.'
Cohen said first, the FDA panel needs to authorize the vaccine. If approved by the FDA for emergency use, the COVID-19 vaccine will then be shipped to 11 hospitals in North Carolina that have ultra-cold storage.
Next, a CDC panel needs to approve who will get the vaccine first. That panel will meet this weekend. Cohen said once that is determined, 42 other hospitals will get the vaccine. These hospitals are chosen based on bed capacity and population. From there, hospital employees in close contact with COVID-19 patients will get the vaccine first.
In all, 85,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be distributed in North Carolina.
Once hospitals have the vaccine, they will stagger the staff members who get the vaccine due to possible side effects, to prevent staffing shortages.
Cohen said the vaccine will be free to everyone once it is widely available.
Cohen said NCDHHS will release more information on who is getting COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 22.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines come in two doses. Fuller Moore said state health officials are in contact with providers to make sure the people who get the first vaccine dose, schedule their second appointment to get the second vaccine dose.
Cohen said it's too early to tell what percentage of North Carolinians will need to get the vaccine for it to have an impact on slowing the spread of COVID-19. However, she said state officials want as many people as possible to get the 'potentially life-saving' vaccine once it's available.
10 a.m. -- Dr. Christopher Ohl, an infectious disease expert with Wake Forest Baptist Health, will give an update on COVID-19 in the Piedmont Triad and will discuss vaccines and offer suggestions for a safe holiday season.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020
Noon - North Carolina coronavirus numbers soar to record highs in all key testing metrics. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the state's rates of new cases, monthly percent positive and hospitalizations reached new heights in its latest coronavirus report.
Critical 'Red' counties more than doubled in the last week, according to the NCDHHS. Guilford and Alamance counties remained critical with a 'high impact' designation for hospitals. Forsyth County's rating was expanded to 'critical' but still is listed as 'low impact' on hospital resources, NCDHHS officials said. Alamance County remains at 'critical' with a 'high impact' on hospitals.
STATEWIDE DATA
- NEW CASES: 6,495
- PERCENT POSITIVE: 11.7%
TOTAL CASES (INCLUDING PRESUMED RECOVERIES):
- HOSPITALIZATIONS: 2,440 (SEVEN STRAIGHT RECORD-HIGH DAYS)
- TOTAL DEATHS: 5,661
The NCDHHS COVID-19 Task Force will hold a press briefing on Thursday, Dec. 10, one day before Gov. Roy Cooper's modified Safer-At-Home Executive Order takes effect.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020
7:30 p.m. - The NCDHHS reports a COVID-19 outbreak at the Carriage House Senior Living Community.
- 27 total cases
- 18 residents
- 9 staff
- 4 deaths
6:51 p.m. - An inmate has died after testing positive for COVID-19.
The inmate was at the Mountain View Correctional Institution. Officials said the offender also had pre-existing medical conditions.
“His death is tragic. We are continuing to work hard to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in our prisons,” Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons said. “The health and safety of the staff and the offender population is our top priority.”
The offender tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 23. He was hospitalized the next day, Nov. 24. His condition worsened, and he died on Dec. 7.
6:00 p.m. - Greensboro businesses respond to the new restrictions or the modified stay-at-home order.
3:13 p.m. Modified stay at home order to begin Friday, Dec.11. This order aims to limit gatherings and get people home where they're safer. The order will require people to stay at home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. It means just what it says: people are to stay at home between those hours. Businesses, including restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, personal care businesses, most retail stores and more, will be required to close by 10 p.m. In addition, all onsite alcohol consumption sales must end by 9 p.m.
3:11 p.m. Keep it small and outdoors if you are expecting to see family over holidays. It's also recommended that you get tested according to updates from the presser.
3:09 p.m. During the presser, it was expressed news of vaccines has given us all hope, but Cooper expressed that vaccines aren’t here yet and we have to act to save lives and preserve our economy.
3:03 p.m. According to Gov. Roy Cooper, as cases across the country continue to rise, we have seen rapid increases in our key metrics in NC. Case counts have broken single-day records on three separate days in just the last week, and the percent of tests returning positive has increased to more than 10%.
3:00 p.m. Gov. Roy Cooper presser begins.
Noon - 77-year-old North Carolina congresswoman cleared to return to Washington after testing positive for COVID-19 in November. Doctors have given U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) a clean bill of health following her coronavirus diagnosis. Foxx said she was asymptomatic.
RELATED: 77-year-old NC congresswoman who tested positive for COVID-19 gets cleared to return to Washington
11:30 a.m. The NCDHHS reports a total of 404,032 cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina as of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. They also report a total of 2,373 hospitalizations.
Guilford County: 18,682 total cases, 267 total deaths
Forsyth County: 15,134 total cases, 173 total deaths
Alamance County: 7,989 total cases, 111 total deaths
11 a.m. - Gov. Roy Cooper and the Coronavirus Task Force are expected to give an update on COVID-19 in the state at 3 p.m. You can watch it live in this story.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2020
Noon: North Carolina’s daily COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and percent positive have trended upward since early October. Health leaders say they’re discussing ‘action.’
Gov. Roy Cooper and Health Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen tweeted they're discussing actions to combat COVID-19 spread. Their cautionary words came after a record-high weekend in case count and hospitalizations.
As of Monday afternoon, 2,240 people were in North Carolina hospitals battling the virus, which is a new record high. Six hundred seventy people are in the Triad Hospital Network and 5,560 North Carolinians have died from COVID-19 since March.
Knowing that case count can fluctuate with testing demand, we look at the percentage of tests that get positive results. Today, the percent positive is 10.5% percent which is higher than state leaders urge, but below the national average of 11.7%. In September, the percent positive slumped below the state health department goal of 5%, but in early October, numbers started going up.
While Cooper and Cohen have said they're discussing “actions,” they have not unveiled any plans to impose further restrictions. North Carolina remains in an extended Phase 3 under a mask mandate.
Breaking Down the Numbers
STATE
- 399,362 CASES (373,684 MOLECULAR POSITIVE CASES; 25,687 ANTIGEN POSITIVE CASES)
- 5,630,137 COMPLETED TESTS
- 2,240 CURRENTLY HOSPITALIZED
COUNTIES
- ALAMANCE – 7,910 CASES, 111 DEATHS
- DAVIDSON – 5,990 CASES, 56 DEATHS
- DAVIE – 1,421 CASES, 13 DEATHS
- FORSYTH – 14,919 CASES, 173 DEATHS
- GUILFORD – 18,417 CASES, 259 DEATHS
- ROCKINGHAM – 3,387 CASES, 23 DEATHS
- STOKES – 1,308 CASES, 20 DEATHS
- SURRY – 2,021 CASES, 35 DEATHS
- WILKES – 2,967 CASES, 55 DEATHS
FACTS NOT FEAR
Remember facts, not fear when talking about the coronavirus. You should take the safety measures recommended by health leaders to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Abide by the three W's. That means wearing a mask, washing your hands, and waiting at least six feet from another person. You also want to avoid touching your face and make sure to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue and throw it away.
WHERE YOU GET INFORMATION ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS IS IMPORTANT
It is important to make sure the information you are getting about the coronavirus is coming directly from reliable sources like the CDC and NCDHHS. Be careful not to spread misinformation about coronavirus on social media.
For more information visit the CDC OR NCDHHS website.
NC CORONAVIRUS HOTLINE
The state also has a special hotline set up where you can call 866-462-3821 for more information on the coronavirus. You can also submit questions online at ncpoisoncontrol.org or select chat to talk with someone about the virus.
You can also text keyword VIRUS to WFMY News 2 at 336-379-5775 for the latest.
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