Cohen: 'You may have COVID right now and not know it.'

of emergency management

Mike's Bayberry Monica McGee and Karen Magoon are American length

sign language interpreters and Jackie and Jasmine

Motive

Here are Spanish interpreters as faras today's numbers

As of this morning there were 100

There were 10,028 new cases reported today

Sorry that's 10,028 new cases reported today

There are currently 3960 people hospitalized right now across North

Carolina

And sadly now there have been 7328 deaths

In the 10 months that we've been fighting this pandemic

this is the most worried that I've been for our

state

We continue to set new records

We reported over 10,000 cases yesterday and again today

Our tests that are positive remain in the double digits

and most worrisome every day we see new record highs

of people hospitalized

With Cove in 19 and record high of those needing

intensive care many hospitals have stopped non urgent procedures to

free up staff or have opened additional covert units

The situation is so critical that last week the federal

government said that if you were with people that you

don't live with you should assume you've become infected with

co vid and you're a danger toe

Others

Earlier this week I issued my first ever ever secretarial

directive with immediate actions for North Carolinians to take to

save lives and slow the spread of this virus

It calls on North Carolinians to stay home

You should only leave home for essential activities such as

going toe work or school for healthcare to care for

family members or to buy food

If you're over 65 or at high risk for developing

serious illness use delivery services or an alternative pickup method

for food and retail

Do not gather with people that do not live with

you

Do not go to another persons home indoors and do

not have others over your home indoors

When you do leave home for essential activities always wear

a mask and keep distance from people

Given the level of viral spread there is a high

risk that you could have co vid right now and

don't know it

I know this is hard

We will get through it

We now even have um or research that shows that

the three W's work remember those three W's wear a

mask

Any time you're with people you don't live with weight

apart from others and wash your hands often

And we have a new tool to combat this virus

It's our vaccines

We're working hard to get vaccines out to people as

fast as possible

Our local health departments and hospitals have been ramping up

quickly putting their vaccine plans to work

Already more than 180,000 doses have been given and in

the last 24 hours alone 20,000 shots went into arms

We're hearing from our vaccine partners that they are anxious

for more doses

The state is also in implementing its vaccine plan

We are moving forward with facilitating large vaccination events starting

next week and we continue to onboard additional vaccine providers

starting with our federally qualified health centers

Director Spray Berry will share how emergency management is supporting

North Carolina's vaccine operational effort particularly how they're supporting our

local health departments who have been around the clock in

around the clock pandemic response for close to a year

Now remember vaccine supplies are very limited while some people

want to be first in line to get their shot

We knew going into this that others have very legitimate

reasons to be hesitant about the vaccine

Understandably communities who have faced longstanding and continuing racial and

ethnic injustices in our health care system and a broader

society may feel greater distrust towards vaccines

All vaccine providers have the responsibility to ensure equitable access

to vaccines which means that they take intentional actions to

reach and engage historically marginalized communities

We're partnering with trusted community leader leaders and organizations to

provide accurate information to all North Carolinians and we need

your help

As you share information with the public

Please share these important fax

First scientists had a head start

Thes vaccines were built upon years of work to develop

vaccines for similar viruses

Like all vaccines they were rigorously tested for safety and

effectiveness

More than 70,000 people volunteered in clinical trials for the

two vaccines to make sure they were safe and worked

to Prevent Cove in 19

There were no serious safety concerns noted in the clinical

trials and to date the vaccines are 95% effective in

preventing COVE in 19 you cannot get Cove in 19

from the vaccine

You may have temporary reactions like a sore arm headache

or feeling tired and achey for a day or two

After receiving the vaccine I will be rolling up my

sleeve to get my shot as soon as it's my

turn

You can get accurate information about vaccines from our website

Your spot your shot dot n c dot gov

You can also find contact information there for local local

vaccine providers

It will take many months to vaccinate everyone who wants

it

Keep practicing the three W's where a mask wait 6

ft apart

Wash your hands until everyone has gotten a chance to

get vaccinated

And with that I'll turn it over to director Spray

Berry for a few remarks

Thank you Secretary Cohen and thank you for your continued

outstanding leadership

You are appreciated

Good afternoon everyone

Today is day 305 of the state emergency response team

Activation for the Cove in 19 response

First on update on the winter weather our state is

experiencing

Snow has been falling in the Western counties and several

inches have accumulated in some areas

Boone in Nashville have seen the most snow far so

far with 4 to 5 inches and Mawr incoming hazardous

travel conditions are expected across much of western North Carolina

well into the weekend

Our great partners in the Highway patrol in the Department

of Transportation are out working hard to keep the roads

clear and open their no major traffic incidents or power

outages to report at this time we have deployed resource

is to to known highway hot spots where vehicles often

get stranded during winter weather

Those are the Turner grade on Interstate 77 in Surrey

County and the steep grade on Interstate 40 near Old

Fort in McDowell County the gateway to the mountains

These resource is include personnel and equipment from the Highway

Patrol N C D O T and the North Carolina

National Guard including heavy records that can help quickly free

up vehicles that are stuck

This strategy works to keep these important interstates open

If you're in an area with significant snowfall it's best

to stay off the roads unless you absolutely must travel

This will help the D O

T and local crews clear the roads quickly

If you must travel slow down increase following distance and

travel carefully

Using your lights and wipers is always you can visit

Dr in c dot gov for the latest on road

conditions and closed roads

This winter weather reminds us of how important it is

to have a family emergency plan for all hazards

Everyone is encouraged to go to ready n c dot

org's to build their own custom plan Being prepared

So important

Special thanks to Seth a 17 year old from care

who mailed us some important information on preparedness so we

can enhance our operation here

The Stadio See We're continuing to support our outstanding partners

at the Department of Health and Human Services through the

statewide vaccination effort

Daily

Interagency planning is ongoing to support vaccination operations

This includes our local partners

The first National Guard teams to support vaccination will be

reporting early next week to serve in Forsyth County and

with album All Regional Health Services AH Public Health Agency

that serves eight counties in north eastern North Carolina

Additional teams from the National Guard are currently being assembled

and will be deployed based on local needs of our

county partners

The National Guard is supporting this vaccine mission while continuing

its work supporting food banks and rapid covert testing sites

across the state during the pandemic

R N C E M Logistics team continues to support

de HHS and the distribution of personnel protective equipment statewide

We're also supporting hospitals in their med surge efforts to

accommodate increasing numbers of patients emergency supplies of dry ice

or in place at our warehouses in Tarboro and Baden

This dry ice can be requested by hospitals health departments

or medical providers

If they're a critical risk of losing valuable vaccine

Do the loss of ultra cold storage are unable to

obtain dry ice through normal purchasing methods Let me encourage

everyone to get the vaccine

When your turn comes it's safe and it's free

I'll be rolling up my sleeve to get the shot

when it's my turn

In addition to the three W's our best chance to

end this pandemic is for most of the population

To receive the vaccine you have a spot

So take your shot a special thanks to all of

our local health departments hospitals health care systems and local

emergency management agencies for your outstanding work in partnership as

my battle buddy Doctor Mandy Cohen says it's more critical

than ever to observe the three W's where a cloth

face covering

Wait at least 6 ft apart and wash your hands

often

That's where weight and washed is Always

Don't forget to look out for your family friends and

neighbors and to call your loved ones daily with kindness

and cooperation

We will all get through this together is one team

one mission and one family

Thank you Madam Secretary

Mhm

Thank you Director

I appreciate you and your team as well

It's been a tremendous partnership over almost a year

At this point I'm that with that we will open

and take your questions

Um you you have any idea when And the state

will have enough vaccine where regular people will be able

to get it

And what are your thoughts about the the amount of

vaccine you've gotten so far And uh how how has

that been going Part of the distribution

Thanks Steve

We know that vaccine is in limited supply

Right now we have been vaccinating our health care workers

who worked directly with co vid patients folks in our

long term care facilities both the workers and the residents

And now just this week we've started to move on

to those who are above the age of 75 after

our next group will be those who are our frontline

essential workers meaning those workers who have to go in

person to work

Um and it is hard for them to be physically

distant in that work

Our police officers are childcare workers and we have that

prioritization to make sure that we can protect those who

are at the highest risk of death and dying

That's why we went to our nursing homes

And long term care are most vulnerable

Um but it's also why we wanted to think about

those at highest risk of exposure Which is why we

vaccinated are health care workers first and our end as

we move forward will be working to vaccinate those frontline

essential workers like our police firefighters childcare workers

Um right now we are are working very quickly to

get the vaccine that we have been allocated by the

federal government into arms

As a state we have allocated all of that vaccine

out to our vaccine providers and they have been working

very hard over the last

It's only been you know 23 weeks that we're into

this but they've been ramping up particularly since we've started

2021

They've really ramped up their efforts on day really proud

of the them embracing that sense of urgency that we

all feel to get vaccine into folks as quickly as

possible now as faras when it will be available for

anyone who wants it

I think as we've been saying all along I think

it's gonna be well into the spring maybe the late

spring until we have enough vaccine available to anyone who

wants it at any point

Um so we're going to keep working to get the

vaccine that we get from the federal government out to

folks as quickly as possible

That's why we're supporting our local partners

Are health departments are hospitals now R

F Q

Hcs in their work and getting a vaccine as quickly

as possible I wanna thank our National Guard partners and

our emergency management partners that are continuing to support these

efforts as we all work together here in North Carolina

Thanks Steve

Our next question is from loans for business North Carolina

Help Hi

Thanks for coming

Thank you very much for camping our calls

They you know I think like other reporters

We've been news baited with question from readers

But when they get their vaccine So even though I

didn't have some clarification about that it's gonna take some

time

There's some basic questions like this one

Can people get the vaccination in accountancy That's not their

home county

Great

Thanks Rose

Great question

So yes you can get a vaccine even if it's

not in your home county

Now we always encourage folks toe thio call close to

home first and start there

Um but no you don't have to stay in your

county particularly depending on where your your home is located

It may be quicker to go to another county um

or to your local hospital that might that might be

closer but maybe right over the border of the county

so you can show up in in any county though

we'd encourage folks thio call their their local departments of

health

First um we have prioritized trying to get this vaccine

and an access point in all 100 counties

Right That was a priority for us here in North

Carolina to make sure there were access points in every

single county so that folks who didn't have the ability

to drive

Uh too far Could get an access point in their

county

But you could show up at at any site um

and get a vaccine assuming that you are meeting the

prioritization requirement

And remember we're still a health care workers who work

directly with Covad Patients are long term care folks either

though the workers or the residents

Um And now we have opened to those who are

over 75 years old of age so 75 or older

So those are the Those are the groups that we

are vaccinating right now

Great

Thanks for us

Go ahead

Okay I was so so then

The next thing is you know what the logjam and

uh you know getting back things to the state is

that is that sets of manufacturers aren't manufacturing fast

Earlier predicted is that a hold up on the federal

side is that getting it out to counties is that

county capacity

Because you know we've spoken Thio a number of counties

where they just don't have a lot of capacity and

so they're not doing a lot

And finally you know it's the National Guard posts will

be going to precise County

But what about getting them Thio Um Thanks Rose

Well let me start with the latter half

Which is how are we supporting our local partners to

do this And as director spray Berry mentioned like thes

are partners that have been running hard for almost a

year responding to this pandemic and we at the state

want to make sure we're supporting them

So our partners an emergency management are are are partnering

with our local health departments

And what we've asked is any of our local health

departments need any support any kind of staffing needs whether

that's back office um help Thio even do data entry

to do the vaccines themselves

They just need to raise their hand and ask

And we have the ability um to mobilize staff to

to various counties depending on what they need

Eso folks just need to raise their hand use the

same process that we go through if we're in a

hurricane um to use that request process we're using staffing

support such as those who have been doing our our

contact tracing and we're mobilizing them and and redeploying them

as we need to support folks

In addition there have been wonderful

Um offers a volunteer help across the board particularly for

vaccinators

There have been a lot of folks who have raised

their hand to say we can be vaccinators which is

wonderful

So our team has been coordinating with those folks who

have volunteered to match them up with where the need

is And I think that's why you're seeing the rate

of vaccine Going into arms has really picked up

Now that we're out of the holiday time and were

able to sort of do that um support for our

local partners

Things have really sped up and I think you're going

to continue to see that pace continue

Thio accelerate as far as the overall um allocation that

we get from the federal government that that I think

is questions better answered for them

They are making the determination at the federal level how

much vaccine we get it the state

Then our job is to get that out to our

providers as quickly as possible which we have done um

and and then for our providers to get those vaccine

into arms

So I think we're working along all of the different

pieces of this logistics chain if you will

Um you know look everyone's working hard feel that sense

of urgency of wanting to get vaccines out as quickly

as possible

And we've been ramping up work missy

Director

Anything to add Nope

He's good

All right

Thanks Rose

Okay Um expect change from Vanessa

Research with W C and D

T

V

Charles

Hi

I have a year and you're taking my question

We recently just had a field hospital open up in

our area and renew

Your and I wanted to know if you use any

other plans to build field hospitals anywhere else

And also if you could explain maybe what the process

is into getting a field hospital or maybe one of

decisions how the decision is made to put a field

hospital location and when that actually will will be done

Like you know with a hospital reaches a certain capacity

we're going to kind of build off the lost there

Vanessa Thanks for that question

So a couple of things Yes a field hospital is

now open

And I mean I think it is is very much

recognizing the fact that our hospitals are under strain

Um that they needed to set up a new facility

to add some additional capacity

Um in order to be able to respond to co

vid that opened yesterday

They have have patients there right now and that is

really a local decision

They came to us saying we want to open that

field hospital

We think that is the solution that will help us

here amongst uh the these counties and these hospital systems

And then at the state we want we we've worked

very hard to make sure that they have all of

the regulatory and and uh safety things that they need

to have in place in orderto open ah facility like

that right in order to operate at a at a

level that can offer the medical support and the safety

that it needs to dio

So we work closely with them once the local uh

teams on the ground said that is the solution that

we think is gonna make most sense for us

So there's not a direct trigger necessary to say if

this is happening we're gonna build a field hospital for

them

That was the right solution

Ah lot of other places in the state

We have a lot of ability to surge our hospital

capacity within the walls of the hospitals themselves so we

don't have to go outside of them

Often the rate limiting step or the most precious commodity

for us is people

Resource is our talented doctors and nurses and respiratory tax

and others on DSO

The physical space is often not the limiter

So what we have been working to make sure we

can do with our hospital partners is have good visibility

Do they have the staffing that they need Are we

able to move patients around If if one hospital starts

to get overloaded on can we all share the workload

And what I would say is there's been fantastic collaboration

across the state and I think that comes after a

year of hard work uh to to be in the

place to be able to respond like this

So that was the right decision for the communities to

to build that field hospital not necessarily a trigger in

all places

I think every uh region and and partnership will will

make different decisions and from from us at the state

We just want to support them in those decisions

Anything else you'd like to add Okay

Thank you

Thanks Vanessa

Yeah go ahead Vanessa

Okay so obviously we've been seeing the numbers really really

taking off

You know I would say through the fallen into the

winters we get here here into the new year is

well of course um e mean

And then I feel like the numbers have been growing

like they've they've never grown before

I mean is there anything else that play other than

people letting their guard down getting together Maybe they're not

wearing masks

Um do you think maybe we have this new variant

here in North Carolina or is there something else that

you're seeing playing a factor into this large growth Yeah

Vanessa it's a great question

I think some of it starts with the fact of

the way this virus spreads

It's called exponential growth meaning as once you start to

accept to increase you actually accelerate that rate of increase

It's not a quote

It's not a linear acceleration

It's a it's an exponential would mean it

It gets faster and faster as you get more and

more and I think that is what we're seeing

Number one second

I do think that that folks have had a long

year and I get that they are

They're tired

Um they want life to go back to pre pandemic

Um and I think sometimes we are letting down our

guard particularly around the holidays

I know there was a lot of holiday travel

We saw it in pictures at our um at our

airlines um and and such

So we know there was holiday travel

We know that these increased cases are linked to the

fact that folks are getting together indoors and not wearing

their mask

And that's why I issued the secretarial directive this week

to be extremely clear about what folks should not dio

They need to be staying home unless they are conducting

essential business

Unless you're going toe work or school getting groceries you

should not be going to someone else's home indoors

You should not be having people over to your home

indoors So those are the things that I think are

happening now as far as the variant

It is possible that that variant is here and in

fact it is

It is likely and we are operating as if it

was here

Now it has not been identified here and this is

the variant that was first identified in the United Kingdom

as being more contagious

It has been identified in a number of states across

the United States here

It's why we're operating as if it's already here and

that we need to realize that this virus was contagious

before and now is even more contagious

Um as we go forward

So I think it is all of these things together

Which is why we have to be particularly vigilant

Aziz

We move through the next number of months

Thank you

Our next question is from Ben System with the News

and Observer

Thank you for taking my question this afternoon Dr Cohen

Um so I see you

Capacity has decreased over the last few weeks

Um in North Carolina just saw its second day in

a row with new cases reported at over 10,000

Um other parts of the country have seen their I

C u capacity hit zero

Do you see that Um happening here The spread isn't

mitigated in the next weeks

I'm also as you were talking about earlier with the

field hospital that's been set up in Western North Carolina

Um is there discussion about activating the state medical shoulder

Um in Hamlet

Ben thanks for that question

As far as I see you

Capacity Yes I do expect for us to see further

um uh strain on that capacity

Now to date we've been able to manage that in

a number of ways

First I know that our hospital systems are not doing

some of their non urgent procedures that could result in

needing to use more hospital beds and even just the

staff

So some of the staff that can work and do

in the surgical area could now be moved over to

handle

I see you level patients so right

It's also managing physical space

But it for I see you care in particular it's

making sure we have the doctors and nurses that know

how to give that higher level of intensive care unit

uh kinds of care that that is what we've been

able to manage

Well I think so

Folks are decreasing some of their um non urgent procedures

They're also putting to patients in a room for example

so that they can manage their staff better as well

as manage equipment as and and infection control

So we're trying to manage in that way and conserve

space and and staff resource is um and then I

think we're converting space over a no opening additional

I see you beds again

That requires the staffing to do that

Um but that's what we're working through to make sure

that folks have that capacity to expand if they need

It s so we're gonna manage this our to our

day to day with our hospital partners as we go

through this and as far as the the Hamlet area

As I was saying physical space tends not to be

our problem in most areas

But we have that Hamlet uh space in case we

need to activate it

And we do need more physical space

But as of right now we do not have plans

to put that into action

Right Right This moment

Anything else Director Okay it's ready

He says thank you

Hey a final question today will be a follow up

from Den Systems

That the newsman journal

Um thanks for taking my follow up Dr Cohen

So is North Carolina concerned at all about the CVS

Walgreens partnership regarding vaccinations of long term care staff and

residents Um I As of Tuesday that partnership had received

166,000 vaccine doses and given out 13,000 of those Um

does the state have any indication that that has picked

up this week Thanks for that question

I think a couple of things with the CVS Walgreens

partnership again that is that is ah program run by

the federal government

Um and it was our decision to turn on that

program

And when we do we are required to allocate some

of our doses to that program

We felt it was important to do given the high

risk nature of our vulnerable populations and nursing homes and

others

Um and so we did allocate those doses

Um I will say that we are not yet getting

the direct data from the CVS and Walgreens program to

the state

Um it goes to the federal government first because again

it is a federal program

But we're hoping to Seymour of that data so we

can better understand

And I can better answer your question ban about um

how things are going there Because we do see the

fact that we aren't seeing the kind of numbers we

were We uh that that I think they were hoping

for either in in the first week and we're not

sure

Is that data lag or what What is happening So

first we need to see the data

Um second we are hearing anecdotal reports of mawr vaccine

hesitancy in our long term care workforce

Um it is why we have spent a long time

thinking about how to partner with folks in our long

term care settings with those who are in historically marginalized

populations to make sure we're getting good information out to

folks so that they feel confident about taking the vaccine

when it is their turn s

So I think we still need to tease through all

of this but I think it's important for all of

us to make sure we're getting out good information about

the vaccine that it is safe

It's effective

It's been tested

You can't get co vid from it

I think those air really key important messages that everyone

needs to see

I think you're going to see even Mawr

Public service announcements from us

More materials um to make sure that folks can get

good information about this vaccine and make decisions

So I think there's first issue is getting transparency from

the data of what's going on with the CVS and

Walgreens uh program and then addressing any vaccine hesitancy that

might be happening amongst our long term care workers s

so that they can feel comfortable taking the vaccine

When it is it is offered to them

Okay I think that was our last question for today

I want to thank everyone for joining us for the

second press conference of the week

Um happy New year to everybody

Um and we'll be back next week with more

Thank you

Mhm

Yeah

Mm hmm

Yeah yeah