Social distance, lots of cleaning, required for return to school; decision to be based on July 1 metrics

As the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services put out guidance and safety processes that would allow students to return to the classroom Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper warned that coronavirus metrics must be moving in the right direction to put those plans in place.

With cases and hospitalizations on the rise, the public needs to participate in measures to control the spread. "We will need to come together and each do our part to change the trends of these numbers if we want to get our kids back to school," Cooper said Monday.

Schools will open with minimal social distancing so long as metrics – like the daily average of new casts, overall hospitalizations and percentage of positive tests – get better or remain stable through July 1.

The plan also lists requirements for protecting high-risk students and staff, for dealing with suspected cases of coronavirus and for supporting student and staff mental health.

Schools are required to have to have other plans in place – for more social distance and for a return to remote learning – should metrics get worse.

“If our state metrics are positive, local school districts will be able to take steps to safely return students to the classroom while also ensuring schools can accommodate students and teachers who may have health concerns. If, however, our great state takes a turn for the worst all schools will follow more stringent guidance," said NC superintendant Mark Johnson.

Some parents want kids back in school while others want to wait for it to be safe. But for many, school is a safe haven and a place where they receive structure.

“There are a lot of children out there who rely on the schools for nutrition and guidance, and it’s very important, but we do want all the children to attend when it’s safe," said parent Meredith Terrell.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-like symptoms across North Carolina has reached a new high. On Monday, the state reported 739 people in the hospital, the highest one-day total since the coronavirus pandemic began. Only 77% of hospitals statewide provided data.

There have been 36,647 cases of the virus in the state since early March, with an estimated 23,653 people having recovered from the virus.

To date, 1,069 people have died of COVID-19 in North Carolina.

New cases of the novel coronavirus are rising faster than ever worldwide, at a rate of more than 100,000 a day over a seven-day average.

In April, new cases never topped 100,000 in one day, but since May 21, there have only been less than 100,000 on five days, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Newly reported cases reached a high of 130,400 on June 3.

The increase in case rates may be partially explained by increases in testing capacity, but there's still not enough testing to capture an accurate picture in many countries.

Different nations' epidemics have followed different trajectories. The number of new cases has slowed in many of the countries that were hit hard earlier on in the pandemic, including China, the US, UK, Italy, Spain and France.

But many countries, particularly in South America, the Middle East and Africa, the rate of transmission still appears to be accelerating, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

In Libya, Iraq, Uganda, Mozambique and Haiti, the data shows the number of known cases is doubling every week. In Brazil, India, Chile, Colombia and South Africa, cases are doubling every two weeks.

"The Americas continues to account for the most cases. For several weeks, the number of cases reported each day in the Americas has been more than the rest of the world put together," said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.

"We are especially worried about Central and South America, where many countries are witnessing accelerating epidemics."

Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO executive director of Health Emergencies Program, said he did not think Central and South America had reached their peak in transmission.

The share of global deaths is also still rising in South America and the Caribbean.

Brazil recorded more than 30,000 new cases on Thursday, bringing it to almost 615,000 in total, along with 1,473 new deaths, taking its total fatalities to more than 34,000.

Its case numbers are second only to the US, where just under 1.9 million cases have been reported and 108,211 deaths. At its peak, the US was seeing an increase of more than 30,000 new cases a day; as of Friday it was registering about 21,000 news cases and 942 daily death per day over a seven-day average.

A number of countries that passed their initial peak -- such as South Korea, Germany and China -- have since seen new clusters of infections after restrictions on movement were eased, raising fears of a second wave.

Authorities in 214 countries and territories have reported about 6.6 million Covid-19 cases and 391,000 deaths since China reported its first cases to the WHO in December.

The true toll of the virus is likely to be worse than the numbers show, as mild or asymptomatic infections often go undiagnosed.