All in Coronavirus
Governor Roy Cooper signed an Executive Order to make it easier for North Carolinians to access treatment for COVID-19. The Executive Order authorizes and directs State Health Director, Dr. Betsey Tilson, to issue a statewide standing order to expand access to monoclonal antibody treatment, which if taken early can decrease the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death. The Order will be in effect through November 30, 2021.
Pitt County commissioners voted to require employees to get the vaccine or consent to weekly testing for COVID-19. Wake County is offering incentives to their vaccinated employees and unvaccinated employees will be tested weekly. We reached out to the county managers of Greene, Jones, and Lenoir Counties to ascertain whether they will require employee vaccininations or not.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services yesterday released new data in the weekly respiratory surveillance report showing that unvaccinated people were 15.4 times, or 1,540 percent, more likely to die from COVID-19 during the four-week period ending Aug. 21, 2021. This comes as the state hit a pandemic high on Aug. 26 with 912 adults in the ICU with COVID-19. The number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators also reached a record high at 574.
Greene County Department of Public Health would like to clarify the difference between the additional dose recommendation and the booster recommendation. Though both refer to a 3rd dose, there is a distinction.
Vaccine mandates have made headlines as cities and municipalities strive to combat the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. In recent news, as reported by WITN, City of Kinston Mayor Dontario Hardy gave his thoughts on if he would consider a vaccine mandate if COVID-19 cases continued rising. The other candidates, Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Solomon, Zac Holcomb, and Jeff Warren have also weighed in on vaccine mandates.
Governor Roy Cooper visited the Neuse Regional Library to explore bridging the digital divide and bringing Internet access to more people through its programs. In addition to the Neuse Regional Library, Cooper also visited the Lenoir County Health Department to encourage vaccine use.
Today, Governor Roy Cooper visited a vaccine clinic at the Lenoir County Health Department to encourage more North Carolinians get their COVID-19 shot.
Today, Governor Roy Cooper, NC DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen and State Health Director Dr. Betsey Tilson sent a letter to school boards that have failed to adopt the StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit urging them to protect their students and staff in the new school year.
North Carolina experienced the largest single day jump in hospital ICU admissions since the beginning of the pandemic. Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations among people ages 20-49 are at an all-time high.
The Lenoir County School Board met on Monday, August 9, 2021. One of the items on the agenda up for discussion was the COVID-19 Response Plan for Opening the 2021-22 School Year. The discussion of mask-wearing was what most in attendance wanted to discuss. Board member W.D. Anderson made a motion that mask-wearing be required for all Lenoir County Public Schools for the first three weeks. The vote to approve the three-week mask mandate was five for the motion and two against, with Billy Davis and Keith King dissenting.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ vaccine data dashboard now includes county-level vaccination information from federal providers, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Prisons and Indian Health Service.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has begun issuing $413 million in food assistance payments to an estimated 1.1 million eligible children through the Summer Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer food assistance program. Children who are eligible for the summer receive a one-time payment of $375 on their family’s P-EBT card.
The Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (HOPE) Program has announced program changes to accept referrals of tenants from landlords and increase financial awards to North Carolina households that apply for pandemic-related rent and utility assistance. The new guidelines aim to help even more renters get back on their feet while also assisting landlords that have lost income due to the economic impacts of COVID-19. Since opening last fall, the HOPE Program has awarded more than $305.5 million to 81,039 households, with $219.2 million already paid to landlords and utility companies statewide.
The Lenoir County Health Department (LCHD) is reporting 14 additional deaths in the county of residents who had tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number to 136. The 14 fatalities occurred since the last time the LCHD reported COVID-19 deaths on June 9.
After months of decline, North Carolina is experiencing a rapid increase in COVID-19 spread among those who are unvaccinated. Yesterday, 1,998 cases were reported to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and 817 people are hospitalized with 132 admitted in the past 24 hours.
