North Carolina Modified Stay At Home Order Extended

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COVID-19

Here you can find up-to-the-minute information on the coronavirus in the Piedmont Triad, North Carolina and the surrounding region.

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COVID-19

Click the video player above for the latest information from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

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Live Updates:

5:30 p.m. Wednesday: More than three-quarters of the counties in North Carolina are in the “red zone” of the County Alert System. Click here to use the interactive map to see your county’s tier, percent-positive rate and hospital impact.

5 p.m. Wednesday: Rockingham County health officials will begin vaccinating those 75 and older on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Vaccine sites will be offered 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Thursdays at the former Daymark Recovery, located at 405 NC Highway 65, Reidsville.

Patients will be observed for 15 minutes for signs of reaction after the injection is given.

2:10 p.m. Wednesday: Dr. Mandy Cohen announced she is giving a secretarial directive on actions North Carolinians need to take to slow the virus:

1. Do not leave your house unless necessary for essential activities.
2. Avoid leaving your house if you are over 65 years old or are high risk.
3. Do not gather with people you do not live with.
4. If you leave your house, wear a mask.
5. Avoid places where people are not wearing masks.
6. Stay away from crowds and places where people are gathering in large numbers.
7. If you have gathered with people who do not live with you, assume that you have become infected with the virus and get tested.

“There is an alarming amount of virus everywhere in our state. We are in a very dangerous position,” said Cohen. “Every single North Carolinian needs to take immediate action to save lives and protect themselves and each other.”

2:05 p.m. Wednesday: Gov. Roy Cooper announced the Modified Stay At Home Order will be extended for an additional three weeks.

The order requires people to stay at home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

“We have turned the page on a new year – one that we’re hoping will bring better times. But as we know, the virus didn’t disappear at midnight on December 31,” Cooper said. “In fact, in North Carolina, we have seen some of our highest case counts, percent positives, hospitalizations and ICU bed usage numbers in the past few days. No matter where you live, work, worship or play, COVID-19 remains a deadly threat, and we must treat it that way.”

2 p.m. Wednesday: Gov. Roy Cooper and NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen are giving a coronavirus update. Click the link below for the full press conference.

1:55 p.m. Wednesday: Eighty-four North Carolina counties have critical levels of coronavirus spread and are considered “red zones” under the state’s county alert system. Another 12 are “orange zones” with substantial viral spread.

11:50 a.m. Wednesday: North Carolina reached a record Wednesday for the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus, at 17.8%.

Another 6,952 infections were reported.

Gov. Roy Cooper will give an update about the state’s COVID-19 response at 2 p.m. WXII 12 News will air the briefing on TV, online and on Facebook.

11 a.m. Wednesday: Most North Carolina nursing home workers are refusing to take coronavirus vaccines being offered in a state that has now become one of the slowest in the nation to get doses into peoples’ arms, according to Dr. Mandy Cohen, North Carolina’s top public health official.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Cohen attributed some of the sluggishness behind the rollout to staffing shortages, lack of familiarity with the state’s technological systems and logistical hurdles of working with dozens of hospitals and 100 different counties throughout the state.

10:50 a.m. Wednesday: The Alamance County Health Department started vaccinating people in Phase 1B, Group 1 Wednesday, Jan. 6, at the Career and Technical Education Center, 2550 Buckingham Road in Burlington, but quickly met their capacity for the day.

Health officials will start another session of vaccines Wednesdasy afternoon. Residents can begin to line-up onsite at 12:30 p.m. and the vaccines will begin to be administered at 1 p.m.

Organizers said there are a set number of vaccines that will be administered each morning and afternoon session. As they meet capacity, the health department said it will notify the public through Alamance County Health Department Website , Facebook and Twitter.

3:55 p.m. Tuesday: The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reports that counties in the state have given 109,799 people their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and that 461 people have received both shots.

CVS and Walgreens reported to NCDHHS that there were 13,338 doses administered through the federal program.

2 p.m. Tuesday: The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that Food and Nutrition Services recipients will see a temporary increase in the amount of benefits they receive.

This increase is part of the federal Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020.

“We know that COVID has created additional hardships and increased food insecurity for children and families,” said David Locklear, deputy director for Economic and Family Services. “We want to do everything possible to support North Carolinians who need help buying food, and increasing benefits for hundreds of thousands of families will be instrumental in meeting that need.”

The maximum benefit amount for households receiving FNS will increase by 15% until June 30. In July, benefit amounts will return to their current levels.

Recipients can find out the amount of their benefits by using one of the methods below.

1.Visit www.ebtedge.com. Click on “More Information” under “EBT Cardholder.” You will be prompted to login and/or register your account.

2. Download the ebtEDGE mobile app. The app is available as a free download on the Apple Store and Google Play.

3. Call 1-888-622-7328 on the day you normally receive benefits.

Benefits are issued via Electronic Benefit Transfer cards (EBT cards).

People can apply for FNS in English or Spanish online with ePASS, by filling out a paper application and mailing it to or dropping it off at their county Department of Social Services office or applying in person at their county DSS office.

1:20 p.m. update: Gov. Roy Cooper has mobilized the North Carolina National Guard to “provide support to local health providers as we continue to increase the pace of vaccinations.”

North Carolina has one of the lower rates of vaccine administration in the country, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures.

NBC-affiliate WRAL reported that state lawmaker Rep. Billy Richardson called on Cooper to mobilize the National Guard to help speed up North Carolina’s vaccine rollout.

Richardson also called on General Assembly leaders to come back into session on vaccine issues, or at least be ready for action on day one of a legislative session already scheduled to start next week.

Just what legislation might be needed isn’t laid out in the letter, WRAL reported, but Richardson said the state should “empower and fund our National Guard to overcome the roadblocks currently impeding the efficient and rapid delivery of vaccines to our citizens.”

“The numbers of North Carolinians contracting Covid daily is staggering, and the slow distribution of the vaccines is disturbing,” Richardson wrote. “Now is the time to act promptly and with a renewed commitment to bipartisan results.”

Resources:

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