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Coronavirus in the Carolinas: Caldwell County court employee tests positive for COVID-19

By WSOCTV.com News Staff
By WSOCTV.com News Staff

CHARLOTTE — Here is a roundup of what’s happening so far today, June 18, surrounding COVID-19 in both North Carolina and South Carolina (click here for yesterday’s coverage). Scroll below for live, local real-time minute-by-minute updates.

>> Have questions about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the Carolinas? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the outbreak -- CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

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[COUNTY-BY-COUNTY COVID-19 RESOURCE GUIDE]

[CORONAVIRUS IN THE CAROLINAS; HERE’S HOW TO STAY INFORMED]

>> We’ll bring you LIVE updates on Channel 9 Eyewitness News. Get extended coverage on the free WSOC Now app on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.

Live, local updates from Thursday:

Caldwell County Court Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19

A Caldwell County court employee has tested positive for COVID-19. All court employees in the courthouse have been tested as a precaution.

“The courthouse has been sanitized and remains open for business at this time,” said Caldwell County Clerk of Superior Court Angela Kidd. “All recommendations and guidelines provided by the Caldwell County Heatlh Department and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are being followed to protect the public and staff.”

SC Health increases contact tracers from 20 to 400

South Carolina DHEC announced 987 new confirmed cases and 9 new probable cases of COVID-19, and 4 additional confirmed deaths. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 21,533, probable cases to 15, confirmed deaths to 621, and zero probable deaths.

DHEC has increased its number of contact tracers from 20 to 400 staff members through rapid hiring and repositioning and training current staff. We also have access to more than 4,000 contact tracers, should we need them, through contracts with private staffing companies.

NC reports 1,333 new cases as statewide testing tops 26,000 in past 24 hours

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday reported another record high number of hospitalizations in the state, with 857 people currently in the hospital due to complications from COVID-19.

That’s up 11 from Wednesday, which had just established the highest total. It is the 10th time in June that North Carolina reached a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations.

With 88% of hospitals reporting, 20% of inpatient beds and 22% of ICU beds are still available. This means 3,638 inpatient beds and 491 ICU beds are empty.

1,333 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

26,256 tests were reported as completed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of completed tests in North Carolina to 693,678. This is the highest day in testing since the pandemic began.

The positive test rate is at 9%, a slight increase compared to Wednesday’s 8%.

Seven more people in North Carolina died from COVID-19 in the past day, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,175 since the start of the pandemic.

Lab-confirmed cases: 48,188

Completed tests: 693,678

Currently hospitalized: 857

Statewide deaths: 1,175

Mecklenburg County continues to lead the state in cases and deaths, with 7,804 and 130 respectively.

Confirmed cases by age:

0-17 (9%)

18-24 (11%)

25-49 (45%)

50-64 (20%)

65-74 (7%)

75 or older (7%)

COVID-19 deaths by age:

25-49 (5%)

50-64 (14%)

65-74 (20%)

75 or older (61%)

Cases by race:

White: 54%

Black: 25%

Cases by gender:

Women: 50%

Men: 50%

(Men account for 53% of deaths)

Cases and deaths in congregate living settings:

There are 107 outbreaks in nursing homes across the state, resulting in 4,107 cases and 608 deaths.

There are 63 outbreaks at residential care facilities across the state, resulting in 1,143 cases and 99 deaths.

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Lincoln County reports first coronavirus-related death

The Lincoln County Health Department is confirming the first death associated with novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Lincoln County. Lincoln County Health Department was alerted to the death on Wednesday, June 17. The individual was in their 80′s and had previous underlying health conditions. The person did not live in a long term care facility. To respect the family’s privacy, no further information will be released about this patient at this time.

“I am very saddened by the loss of one of our community members. We knew this was a possibility, but were hopeful this day would never come,” Lincoln County Health Director Davin Madden said. “This tragic situation emphasizes the importance of doing your part to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community by wearing a cloth face covering while in public, washing your hands frequently, and maintaining a social distance of 6 feet when possible.”

The Lincoln County Health Department and the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners wants to extend our condolences to the family during this difficult time

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1.5 million more laid-off workers seek unemployment benefits

About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a historically high number, even as the economy increasingly reopens and employers bring some people back to work.

The latest figure from the Labor Department marked the 11th straight weekly decline in applications since they peaked at nearly 7 million in March as the coronavirus shut down much of the economy and caused tens of millions of layoffs. The decline was much smaller, though, than in recent weeks, falling just 58,000.

The total number of people receiving unemployment aid also fell slightly, reflecting the return of many to their old jobs.

The job market appears to have begun a slow recovery. In May, employers added 2.5 million jobs, an increase that suggested that the job market has bottomed out. The unemployment rate declined from 14.7% to a still-high 13.3%.

Even with the May hiring gain, nearly 21 million people are officially classified as unemployed. And including people the government said had been erroneously categorized as employed in May and those who lost jobs but didn’t look for new ones, 32.5 million people are out of work, economists estimate.

Thursday’s report also showed that an additional 760,000 people applied for jobless benefits last week under a new program for self-employed and gig workers that made them eligible for aid for the first time. These figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations, so the government doesn’t include them in the official count.

The steady decline in jobless claims follows some other encouraging reports that suggest that the lifting of shutdown orders has sparked some pent-up demand from consumers, whose spending largely drives the economy. Most economic gauges remain far below their pre-pandemic levels, though, and some analysts question whether the recent gains can be sustained, especially if the virus were to surge back.

Last month, retail and restaurant sales jumped nearly 18%, the government said Tuesday, retracing some of the record plunges of the previous two months. Even so, retail purchases remain a sizable 6% below their year-ago levels.

Furniture store sales nearly doubled, and clothing sales nearly tripled, though both remain far below their levels before the coronavirus struck. Clothing store sales are still down 60% compared with a year earlier.

With nearly record-low mortgage rates, applications for home loans reached an 11-year high last week. But even though the number of homes under construction rose in May, they remain substantially below last year’s pace.

The economy and the job market face a raft of uncertainties that could slow or even derail a recovery. Business re-openings have caused spikes of viral infections in nearly half of states, a trend that could lead consumers to pull back again on shopping and dining out and reverse any economic gains.

Restaurants, bars, gyms and movie theaters will likely rehire only a portion of their workforces. Many consumers won’t fully resume their previous habits of shopping, traveling and going out until a vaccine is available.

One key reason why consumer spending has rebounded is that government aid programs, from one-time $1,200 stimulus checks to $600-a-week in supplemental federal unemployment aid, have helped offset the loss of income for laid-off Americans. Yet nearly all the stimulus checks have been issued. And the supplemental federal jobless aid is set to expire July 31.

“Recently, some indicators have pointed to a stabilization, and in some areas a modest rebound, in economic activity,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday in testimony to a Senate committee. Yet “until the public is confident that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely.”

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THURSDAY MORNING STORYLINES

The number of cases of coronavirus is rising in at least 20 states this morning, including the Carolinas.

For the fourth time in the past week, the number of people dealing with the worst symptoms of COVID-19 hit another record in North Carolina on Wednesday. Statewide, 846 people are in the hospital fighting the virus -- up almost 20 from Tuesday's record hospitalizations.

Gov. Roy Cooper will be holding a news conference today at 2 p.m. Channel 9 will carry it live on-air and on wsoctv.com.

Doctors are worried about hospitals becoming overwhelmed. Currently, hospital beds across the state are at 79% capacity.

Across the state Wednesday, there were 1,000 new cases. In South Carolina, the percentage of positive tests stayed above 13%. There were more than 570 new cases reported.

The drug that showed positive results in treating adult coronavirus patients is now being tested on children. Researchers are starting advanced trials of Remdesivir in 50 pediatric patients. They will involve children with moderate to severe cases of COVID-19.

Remdesivir is the only drug that received emergency approval in the U.S for treating coronavirus infections. Earlier studies showed it can speed up the recovery of some adult patients.

The North Carolina legislature agreed on Wednesday to offer $350 bonuses to public school teachers this fall and asks Gov. Roy Cooper to spend federal COVID-19 relief funds to provide even more one-time compensation. The House voted 84-35 for the measure, which also agrees to fund the experience-based raises that teachers and other instructional personnel in K-12 schools expect annually. The bill urges Cooper to use the federal money to give $600 more to each of these educators, as well as $600 to other employees such as custodians and cafeteria workers. The measure, which also contains pay plans for principals and assistant principals, already passed the Senate earlier this week and now goes to Cooper’s desk. Cooper can veto the bill or it will become law. The margins of approval in both chamber -- 19 House Democrats alone voted for the pay measure -- signal a veto could be overridden.

In a letter Tuesday to legislative budget writers, Cooper said, “educators have been on the front lines of this emergency and deserve a significant pay raise.” His office and Republicans disagree on whether the relief funds can be used for the $600 bonuses. He wrote that legislators should prioritize educator pay investments “when we have greater clarity on availability of federal funds.”

Temperature checks to return at N.C. legislature entrances

People trying to enter the two buildings operated by the North Carolina General Assembly will get their temperatures checked again after the COVID-19 protocol was discontinued this week.

Senate Democrats complained after the checks by General Assembly police and nurses were discontinued.

The legislative complex administrator said no one ever registered a temperature high enough to warrant a medical referral when the checks were performed for several weeks. But Paul Coble says the checks will return next week.

Coble says cleaning and safety initiatives and other operating adjustments have resulted in over $1 million in added expenses.

Raleigh will require face coverings in public starting Friday

The City of Raleigh will require face coverings in public places where social distancing is difficult, including grocery stores, pharmacies, sidewalks, parking lots, businesses and public transit.

In a proclamation issued Wednesday, Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin amended her state of emergency to include the requirement beginning Friday at 4 p.m.

Additionally, all restaurant, personal care, grooming, tattoo and retail employees and staff members must wear face coverings while working.

Baldwin modeled her order after similar proclamations from Durham and Orange counties. Under the order, some are exempt from wearing face coverings, including people whose religious beliefs prevent it, those who cannot due to a medical or behavioral condition, children younger than 12 years old, restaurant patrons, people in private offices or their own homes, or people complying with law enforcement officers.

Face coverings are also not required when its impossible or impractical to wear one, for example, while swimming or at the dentist’s office.

Under the order, law enforcement officers are encouraged to educate the public and push for voluntary compliance.

© 2020 Cox Media Group

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