NORTH CAROLINA OPEN THREAD for Sunday, April 19, 2020
257th Weekly Edition
This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue. We hope this regular platform gives readers interested in North Carolina politics a place to share their knowledge, insight and inspiration as we work on taking back our state from some of the most extreme Republicans in the nation. Please join us every week as we try to Connect, Unite, Act with our North Carolina Daily Kos community. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads.
Colorado: Mondays, 7:00 PM Mountain
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Missouri: Wednesday Evenings
Kansas: Monday Evenings
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Click here for up to the minute data from Worldometer Real Time World Statistics. It opens to the USA page and you can scroll down through the states.
USA
State |
Total
Cases |
New
Cases |
Total
Deaths |
New
Deaths |
Total
Recovered |
Active
Cases |
1:00pm EDT 3/22/2020
1:00pm EDT 3/29/2020
1:00pm EDT 4/5/2020
www.ncdhhs.gov
Updated daily by 11 a.m. Last updated 11:00 a.m., April 19, 2020.
Laboratory-Confirmed Cases |
Deaths |
Completed Tests |
Currently Hospitalized |
Number of Counties |
6,493 |
172 |
78,772 |
465 |
93 |
*Laboratory-Confirmed Cases reflect cases that were tested and returned positive, including the NC State Laboratory of Public Health and reporting hospital and commercial labs. All data are preliminary. Not all cases of COVID-19 are tested, so this does not represent the total number of people in North Carolina who have or had COVID-19.
*Deaths reflect deaths in persons with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 reported by local health departments to the NC Department of Health and Human Services.
*Completed tests reflect testing completed by the NC State Laboratory of Public Health and reporting hospital and commercial labs.
*Currently hospitalized reflect the number of patients with COVID-19 that are currently hospitalized in reporting hospitals.
For COVID-19 U.S. case information go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
News&Observer
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We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date news about the coronavirus in North Carolina. Check back for updates.
CASES TOP 6,000
North Carolina had at least 6,366 reported cases of the coronavirus as of Sunday morning, and 185 people have died, according to state and county health departments.
The state health department reported 281 new cases on Saturday.
At least 388 North Carolinians were
hospitalized with COVID-19
Saturday, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s down from Thursday’s high of 452.
Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, has the most reported cases in the state, with 1,153. The county has reported
24 deaths.
Wake County, which includes Raleigh, has 586 reported cases and four deaths. Durham County has 409 reported cases and four deaths.
CASES SURGE AT NC PRISON
Hundreds of inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at Neuse Correctional Institution in Goldsboro as of Friday afternoon, state prisons commissioner Todd Ishee said.
“More than 280 of 770 inmates at the Eastern North Carolina prison have tested positive for COVID-19, making it one of the hardest-hit prisons in the nation,” according to The Charlotte Observer.
“I’m just kind of sitting around, waiting to get sick,” one inmate told the Charlotte Observer by telephone a week ago. “There’s definitely a war out here. That’s how it feels. It’s kind of ground zero.” Now that inmate, Christopher Johnson, also has symptoms of COVID-19.
Secretary of the NC Department of Public Safety Erik Hooks outlines the plan to release some prison inmates early due to the risks of coronavirus. BY WUNC-TV
CASE REPORTED AT LARGE MEATPACKING PLANT
At least one employee at the Smithfield pork processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to The News & Observer. The Bladen County plant is the largest pork processing facility in the world.
The company has had to close plants in other states, including a large pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after hundreds of workers contracted the virus.
OUTBREAKS AT 7 MECKLENBURG NURSING HOMES
In the Charlotte area, seven nursing homes and long-term care homes have outbreaks of the coronavirus, The Charlotte Observer reports.
More than a quarter of the deaths from the coronavirus in North Carolina have been associated with nursing homes, according to the state DHHS. At least 43 people in North Carolina have died in nursing homes and similar facilities. Those figures are incomplete, DHHS says.
STATE PARTNERS WITH UNIVERSITIES TO TRACK VIRUS
Gov. Roy Cooper said the state is partnering with North Carolina’s three medical universities — the University of North Carolina, East Carolina University and Duke University — to amp up testing and tracking of the coronavirus.
The project will enable officials to see how far COVID-19 has spread statewide, he said.
“This research is part of a coordinated statewide effort to learn more about what percentage of people have no symptoms and to better understand the true number of COVID-19 infections in our state,” Cooper said.
NCDHHS
All North Carolinians can prepare for COVID-19 by getting the latest information directly from reliable sources. The COVID-19 outbreak has been accompanied by a flood of misinformation from unreliable sources. Be thoughtful about what you read or hear about the virus and make sure you are separating rumor from fact before you act.
Turn to these sources for reliable information:
If you have specific questions or concerns related to coronavirus, dial 2-1-1 or 888-892-1162 for more information. In the event of an emergency, please call 9-1-1.
Get the latest information from reliable sources to stay informed and help your family stay healthy. Check back often as information is changing.
COVID-19 Case Count in North Carolina
By
WBTV Web Staff | April 12, 2020 at 11:33 AM EDT - Updated April 18 at 1:16 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - North Carolina health officials reported a total of 6,140 cases of coronavirus across 93 counties Saturday, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which is an increase of 281 from Thursday. Twelve additional deaths have also been reported across the state, bringing the total to 164.
The latest number includes 1,153 cases in Mecklenburg County, with 24 deaths.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper said in order to ease the current restrictions, North Carolina need to make progress in three areas: testing, tracing and monitoring COVID-19 trends.
“This virus is going to be with us until there is a vaccine, which may be a year or more away," Cooper said. "As we ease restrictions, we are going to enter a new normal.”
“Our efforts to flatten the curve are working. And that means we have saved lives. The stay at home orders are working, but we know our current situation is not sustainable in the long run,” Cooper continued. “I know people are wondering, where do we go from here?”
Cooper said that experts say it would be “dangerous to lift restrictions all at once.” He said officials have to monitor for troubling signs of a spike in cases that could overwhelm our hospitals and risk lives.
Health officials say that 1 percent of those infected by the coronavirus in North Carolina are under 18, 7 percent are 18 to 24, 38 percent are between ages of 25 and 49 years old, 28 percent are between ages 50 and 64 and 26 percent are older than 65 years old.
As of Saturday, 76,211 tests had been conducted. At least 388 patients were still hospitalized.
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen that the supposedly grassroots ReopenNC Facebook group is not some grassroots movement of disgruntled citizens, but an astroturfed movement backed by money from the DeVos and Koch political dark money war chest.
Now, with details trickling out that ReopenNC is getting “generous donors” for chartered buses for protests and legal representation, we have a “behind the scenes” report from Politico showing that this entire effort can be traced back to one goal - a last ditch effort by the Trump campaign to rally his base - an effort based on polling of white suburbs in Trump battleground states.
Conservative groups have noticed a change in polling in recent weeks when they ask respondents if they want to go back to work, even if they know the outbreak could continue to cause infections or deaths, and if they would be willing to wear protective gear, such as masks and gloves, in order to reopen the country. Some polls saw upticks as large as 20 percentage points of people willing to return to work, even with the caveats, according to said Brandon and others familiar with the polls. The FreedomWorks polling was conducted in suburban House districts in battleground states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
One operative noted:
“If you don't see something start to happen … you’re going to see a conservative revolt by our base,” said Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks, a conservative group which recently polled on reopening the economy. “The worst strategy for him is to keep things shut until August. Trump is basically going to win or lose his election right now, in the next month.”
It’s time to ask the North Carolina Board of Elections to probe ReopenNC as an illegal political action committee. The organizers of the Facebook group and protests have not been forthcoming about whether they are directly receiving money for their work with this group. It is definately receiving outside funding and is coordinating with larger national efforts by dark money-funded groups aimed specifically at Trump’s reelection.
Contact the NC Board of Elections here.
There is precedence for a complaint of this type. In January, the NCBOE was asked by a campaign finance watchdog group to investigate the Sons of Confederate Veterans for similarly violating tax and campaign finance laws. There couldn't be anything more blatantly flying in the face of campaign finance laws than #ReopenNC.
April 19, 2020 at 10:18 AM EDT - Updated April 19 at 10:18 AM
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A lawyer for ReOpen NC, the group protesting the statewide stay at home order is requesting Gov Cooper and officials clarify that their orders don’t prohibit political protests.
A woman arrested during Tuesday’s protest has been charged with violating an executive order.
The lawyer said in a letter that he wants the charge dropped and the governor’s office and county commissioners to put it in writing by Monday at 2pm.
ReOpen NC is planning to protest the state’s stay home order every Tuesday.
Ozzy Osbourne Lyrics
"War Pigs"
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah!
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah!
Now in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies' burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings, oh lord yeah!
Thanks again, take care.