Coronavirus local updates: Officials confirm COVID-19 outbreaks at 2 Union Co. nursing facilities

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 2 million people worldwide -- including more than 609,000 people in the United States – have been infected with the new coronavirus, and the number of deaths from the outbreak continues to rise. Officials are attempting to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. as hospitals brace for unprecedented patient surges.

>> Scroll below for live, local real-time minute-by-minute updates

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>> Here are the latest updates about COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in North Carolina and South Carolina. Scroll below for real-time updates.

• The number of cases across North Carolina reached 5,123 Wednesday. North Carolina is now reporting 117 deaths, 67,827 completed tests and 431 people currently in the hospital.
• Gov. Roy Cooper and the state’s coronavirus task force announced a statewide stay-at-home order which is currently in effect.
• Gov. Henry McMaster has ordered a home or work order in South Carolina.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking cases in the United States here.

Important Links & Updates:

• CDC: Tracking Cases in the U.S. here
• NC Dept. of Health & Human Services
• WSOC Special Section: Tracking Coronavirus
• WHO: Advice for the Public
• WHO: Q&A

Live local updates from Wednesday:

9:10 p.m.

5:46 p.m.

Health officials have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks at two nursing facilities in Union County.

The outbreaks are at Monroe Rehabilitation Center and Woodridge nursing facility.

Officials said of the 15 new cases in the county, 12 are related to the two outbreaks

4:41 p.m.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced ways to move forward to eventually reduce certain COVID-19 restrictions while protecting people who a second wave of the virus.

“This virus is going to be with us until there is a vaccine, which may be a year or more away,” said Cooper. “That means that as we ease restrictions, we are going to enter a new normal. We want to get back to work while at the same time preventing a spike that will overwhelm our hospitals with COVID-19 cases.”

Cooper said the state needs to make more progress in three areas in order to reduce restrictions. Those three areas are testing, tracing and trends.

According to Cooper, the state relies on an increase in testing, the ability to trace contacts of new cases and understand trends of how the coronavirus is impacting the state and communities.

"Experts tell us it would be dangerous to lift our restrictions all at once. Rather than an on/off light switch, we are viewing this as a dimmer switch that can be adjusted incrementally,” said Cooper.

4:15 p.m.

Lincoln County provided an update on the number of COVID-19 cases in the county.

Total tested: 493

Positive cases: 4

Positive-Recovered case: 13

Negative cases: 472

*PUIs-4

*A PUI is a person who was tested based on COVID-19 testing criteria and is selfisolating until test results are received. During the period of self-isolation, the Lincoln County Health Department provides daily contact management to all PUIs to monitor symptoms or contacts.

3:05 p.m.

North Carolinians Begin to Receive Additional $600 in Weekly Unemployment Assistance

In the past 24 hours, the Division of Employment Security has made more than $100 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments to North Carolinians receiving unemployment assistance, ahead of its timeline to begin FPUC payments by April 17.

The division has now paid out a total of more than $216 million to 185,000 people for unemployment claims effective as of March 15.

The FPUC program provides an additional $600 in weekly unemployment insurance benefits to eligible claimants for weeks beginning March 29 and ending by July 31, 2020. Individuals who are still owed FPUC payments will be paid retroactively.

DES is working as quickly as possible to roll out the two remaining federal unemployment programs to ensure timely and accurate payments for eligible North Carolinians.

• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). This program provides unemployment compensation for individuals not eligible for regular unemployment insurance, such as independent contractors and self-employed workers, and those who have exhausted any extensions to unemployment insurance.

DES estimates its online filing system will be ready to accept claims for this assistance program around April 25, 2020.

• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). This program provides up to 13 additional weeks of benefits for those who have exhausted their state unemployment benefits. DES will update the public as a timeline for this program is available.

Updates about eligibility and how to apply for these benefits will be provided on des.nc.gov.

Since March 15, 2020, the Division of Employment Security has received nearly 600,000 claims for unemployment benefits, with most of them related to COVID-19. Prior to March 16, 2020, DES received approximately 3,000 claims a week.

2:30 p.m.

First responders in north Mecklenburg drove by Atrium Health to thank healthcare workers.

2:25 p.m.

Cheerwine and the City of Salisbury to Cancel 2020 Cheerwine Festival

After careful consideration and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, as well as state and federal agencies, Cheerwine and the City of Salisbury, N.C., have decided to cancel this year's Cheerwine Festival, originally scheduled for Saturday, May 16.

“Our main priority is the safety and health of not only attendees, but everyone involved with the Cheerwine Festival,” said Joy Ritchie Harper, vice-president of marketing for Cheerwine and fifth-generation founding family member. “This decision did not come easily, but we look forward to seeing all the people who travel from near and far to celebrate with us and our families at next year’s festival.”

“We were optimistic at the outset of recent events that there might be an opportunity to move forward with the Cheerwine Festival,” said W. Lane Bailey, Salisbury city manager. “After closely monitoring the situation since mid-March, we made the difficult call late last week to cancel the event. We appreciate the support from Cheerwine fans across the country as we all deal with the effects this pandemic has had on us all. We look forward to hosting the 2021 Cheerwine Festival.”

In place of the street festival, Cheerwine and the City of Salisbury will host a virtual Cheerwine Festival on Saturday, May 16, for fans to enjoy from the comfort of home. The online event will feature live virtual performances from the originally scheduled 2020 Cheerwine Festival bands. The Festival organizers will announce additional details, including how fans can join in and how to support your favorite Festival vendors and downtown Salisbury businesses, in the coming weeks.

And while festival attendees will have to wait until May 15, 2021 to celebrate in the streets of historic downtown Salisbury, Cheerwine is still debuting its 2020 Festival t-shirt as a way to raise funds for Rowan County United Way. All profits from the sale of the shirts will go to the organization’s Covid-19 Relief Fund.

The t-shirt’s original artwork is by Johnathan Marcus Woods, the grand prize winner of the inaugural Cheerwine Festival t-shirt design contest. Earlier this year, the family-owned soft drink invited all of its fans to submit their original designs for consideration.

“I really wanted to capture the joy and whimsy the Cheerwine brand embodies,” Woods says of the inspiration for his design. “I took inspiration from retro cartoons to add a feeling of nostalgia and familiarity to the design.”

He emphasized the cherry iconography and provided a playful, fresh visual take on the “Cherry” and its personality.

Wood’s t-shirt will be available for preorders here.

2 p.m.

Knights Baseball COO Dan Rajkowski spoke to Channel 9′s Matt Harris about what the organization is doing to assist those impacted by COVID-19.

1:50 p.m.

Sources provided Channel 9′s government reporter Joe Bruno with a letter sent by Atrium Health and Novant telling Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio that they do not need a 600 bed field hospital at this time.

Atrium and Novant said data shows we are flattening the curve “resulting in a continued decline in peak hospital census projections.”

In the letter obtained by Channel 9, officials said the previous trajectory showed positive cases doubling every 2.85 days. Now, it is showing positive cases doubling every 6 days.

Atrium Health and Novant warn if social distancing is eased prematurely without supporting data, this trend could reverse.

If data reverses, Atrium and Novant said the Charlotte Convention Center is a viable option for a field hospital.

12:47 p.m.

Verizon extends thanks to nurses and teachers with deep wireless discounts

Those who serve come in many forms and go above and beyond during the current pandemic and always.

Today, as a small token of appreciation for all they do, Verizon is announcing its deepest ongoing wireless discounts will extend to teachers and nurses. This means Start Unlimited wireless plans for as low as $30/mo/line for four lines with autopay - the same discount that has been reserved for our active duty military, veterans and first responders.

The discounts will be available to teachers and nurses for their personal accounts (and their family lines) beginning April 23.

You can learn more about the new discount as well as the other things Verizon is doing to support communities across the country here: https://www.verizon.com/about/news/everyday-heroes-verizon-supports

12:40 p.m.

NC Guard Parachute Riggers Sew Masks for fellow Guardsmen COVID-19 response

NC National Guard’s 403rd Quarter Master Rigger Support Team, based at Simmons Army Airfield on Fort Bragg, is supporting their fellow Guardsmen by manufacturing protective masks for all NC Army and Air Guard members on NC COVID-19 response duty.

The 403rd QM Rigger Support Team consists of ten parachute riggers who have answered the call to action and transferred their unique set of skills to help protect guardsmen across the state. The 403rd‘s standard mission is to support NC National Guard’s Special Forces units and 130th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade’s Main Command Post-Operational Detachment, which supports the 82nd Airborne Division.

“Their special set of skills as maintainers of lifesaving equipment provide a unique capability for the state in a much-needed force preservation effort,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Viviana Paredes, the commander of the 403rd QM Rigger Support Team.

For over a month, the NC Guard has been working side by side with NC Dept. of Health and Human Service, NC Division of Emergency Management and many other local, state, and federal partners providing critical capabilities like; delivering personal protective equipment to medical facilities, commodity distribution, cyber security response and protection, warehouse and logistics management, and engineer assessments of potential alternate care facilities.

Currently, over 300 NC Guardsmen are on NC COVID-19 response duty across the state.

The 403rd‘s mission is critical to help Guardsmen maintain proper health and safety protocols while working to help keep their fellow citizens safe.

11 a.m.

The NCDHHS has released the latest numbers surrounding COVID-19 in the state.

As of Wednesday morning, there were 5,123 lab-confirmed cases from 93 of the 100 counties across the state. That is an increase of 99 from Tuesday.

117 people have died from the virus, up 9 from the day before.

There have been 67,827 completed tests and 431 people are currently hospitalized.

Mecklenburg County was reporting at least 1,015 positive cases.

Age breakdown of positive cases: 0-17 (1%); 18-24 (7%); 25-49 (38%); 50-64 (28%); 65 or older (26%)

Age breakdown of deaths: 25-49 (7%); 50-64 (11%); 65 or older (80%)

55% of those who tested positive are white, while 38% are black.

53% of those who tested positive are women, while men make up 44%, though men account for 69% of the deaths.

10:58 a.m.

Burke County Reports Fifth Death

Public Health was notified today of a COVID-19 related death of another Burke County resident. The individual had been hospitalized and died this morning, April 15 from complications associated with the virus. The patient was in her 70’s with underlying medical conditions. To protect the family’s privacy, no further information about the patient will be released. This is a stark reality that COVID-19 is a serious virus and a potential risk for those most vulnerable within our community.

10:20 a.m.

Channel 9 reached out to the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division to see how many complaints they have received from March 1, 2019 to April 13, 2019 and then, the same time period this year.

Officials said the complaints nearly doubled. All cases are still open in that time frame and no one has been cited.

9:45 a.m.

BB&T is having issues with their mobile banking as people are trying to access their accounts for the stimulus checks.

7 a.m.

If you’re still driving to work or to the grocery store, gas just keeps getting cheaper.

It dropped five cents last week and that might not sound like much, but in comparison, the average price is $1.67 a gallon, according to Gas Buddy.

This is almost 40 cents cheaper than just a month ago and when you look further back, it’s a dollar cheaper now than this time last year.

AAA is also giving first responders and healthcare workers in the Carolinas free roadside assistance. This includes fixing flats, jumping batteries and towing.

IRS launching site that allows you to find out when you will get your stimulus check IRS launching site that allows you to find out when you will get your stimulus check

This will last until the end of April.

It’s April 15, which would normally be Tax Day, but the IRS pushed back the deadline to file your taxes to July to give everyone extra time during the outbreak. If you file between now and then, you won’t face a penalty.

In addition, don’t forget to check your bank account Wednesday morning. Nearly 80 million Americans are expected to get their stimulus checks, a much needed boost for many people struggling to pay their bills.

11 p.m. (Tuesday)

10 p.m. (Tuesday)

Seniors who are most at-risk of getting the coronavirus are dealing with outbreaks inside their nursing homes, including the Citadel in Salisbury, which said there are more than 75 COVID-19 positive cases at its facility.

>>Read more here

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