RALEIGH, N.C. — Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus from North Carolina and across the globe showing the pandemic’s impact on health, jobs, schools and more:
At least 16,812 people in 99 North Carolina counties have tested positive for the coronavirus, at least 641 people have died and another 520 or so remain in the hospital. More than 9,100 have reportedly recovered from COVID-19, the illness associated with the virus.
Latest updates
10:34 p.m.: Durham County is now reporting 949 COVID-19 cases. There are outbreaks at four long-term care facilities: Durham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (111 cases), Treyburn Rehabilitation Center (79), Durhan Recovery Response Center (5), Carver Rehabilitation and Living Center (3) and Hillcrest Convalescent Center (2).
8:05 p.m.: The majority of affected inmates in the federal prison complex in Butner have recovered from their coronavirus infections, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
In Butner's medium-security unit, 169 inmates and 12 staffers are now listed as recovered, with only 62 inmates and 13 workers still listed as active cases. In the minimum-security unit, 38 inmates and four workers are listed as recovered, with 23 inmates and three staff still active cases.
In Butner's medical unit, two staffers have recovered, while five inmates and seven workers are still infected.
Butner had one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the federal prison system. Seven inmates have died from virus-related complications.
7:50 p.m.: An employee at a Bojangles' restaurant at 505 Madison Blvd. in Roxboro has tested positive for the coronavirus. The employee last worked on Tuesday and is in isolation.
Bojangles' closed the restaurant on Wednesday for deep cleaning and sanitation by a professional contractor. The restaurant reopened once all precautionary measures had been taken to ensure the well-being of employees and guests, officials said.
6:50 p.m.: President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club will partially reopen to members this weekend as South Florida slowly resumes business and social activities amid the pandemic.
6 p.m.: A new mural outside Poole's Diner in downtown Raleigh pays tribute to the many local restaurants struggling amid coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders.
The painting of a tree has the names of downtown restaurants attached to each of the roots. The hashtag #toosmalltofail is next to the tree.
Restaurants across North Carolina have been limited to drive-thru, takeout or delivery service since late March, and some have closed for good.
5:55 p.m.: Cumberland County Schools have served 1 million "grab-n-go" meals to local children since schools closed two months ago amid the pandemic, officials said.
"The volume of meals served during the school closure is a reflection of the need our community is experiencing," Beth Maynard, executive director of Child Nutrition Services for the school district, said in a statement.
Maynard said plans are in the works to determine where and how meals will be served to students during the summer.
5:50 p.m.: Another 13 inmates in the Cumberland County jail have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said. They were in close contact with an inmate who tested positive on Monday. All 13 inmates have been in quarantine since Monday – the initial inmate has been isolated since May 6 – and will remain isolated until they are no longer infectious, officials said.
Five Cumberland County jail staffers have tested positive, but none was as a result of the outbreak among inmates, officials said.
5:20 p.m.: Durham Fire Chief Bobby Zoldos tweeted that kitchen fires are up by 88 percent in the city since officials issued a stay-at-home order in late March.
3:25 p.m.: Commissioner of Prisons Todd Ishee said a plan has been set up for mass testing of all prison workers, in both the adult and juvenile systems. Details will be forthcoming, he said.
The state Department of Public Safety recently backed out of a mass testing effort led by State Treasurer Dale Folwell, the State Health Plan and the State Employees Association of North Carolina, citing the privacy of staffers.
3:20 p.m.: Neighborhood swimming pools could likely open under the second part of the state's three-phase plan to resume business and social activities during the pandemic, according to Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services. That could come as soon as May 22. Cohen said state health officials would provide guidance on how pools can operate safely and limit the spread of the coronavirus.
3:10 p.m.: After church leaders statewide rallied in Raleigh on Thursday to push for indoor worship services during the pandemic, Gov. Roy Cooper said he doesn't want churches to become hotspots for coronavirus transmission. Congregations need to consider whether it's worth an increased risk of passing along a deadly virus to those they're supposed to care for and love.
3 p.m.: Gov. Roy Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said key pandemic indicators officials are tracking have remained fairly stable in the first week of stage one of the three-phase plan to resume business and social activities during the pandemic.
2:15 p.m.: More than 300,000 people around the world have now died from the coronavirus, according to
figures from Johns Hopkins University. More than 4.4 million cases have also been recorded, according to the university's count.
1:30 p.m.: A day after calling for local flexibility in allowing salons and barbershops to reopen during the pandemic, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger put out the same call Thursday for restaurants.
"Other states, including the majority of those in the Southeast, have reviewed the same science, facts and data as Gov. Cooper has and reached a different conclusion on reopening restaurants," Berger, R-Rockingham, said in a statement. "Gov. Cooper has not articulated his administration's overarching goal or strategy. Why is he making different decisions based on the same information?"
Counties should be permitted to reopen restaurants, especially outdoor seating areas, he said, provided they adhere to public health rules, including the following:
- Restricting the number of people inside the restaurant and the number of diners permitted at a table
- Implementing social distancing rules, including spacing tables at least 8 feet apart
- Requiring diners to wait outdoors or encouraging restaurants to provide reservation-only service so entryways aren't crowded
- Requiring disposable menus
- Requiring enhanced sanitization rules, especially for tables
CBRE projects a return to a jobless rate under 5 percent by the end of next year, but that’s still a percentage point higher than before the pandemic struck.
11:40 p.m.: North Carolina once again has added 1,000 new coronavirus cases in less than two days, moving to more than 16,600 on Thursday. Statewide, 637 people have died from the virus, with a Wake County resident among the latest deaths.
Yet, the seven-day rolling average for new infections remains fairly flat, at an average of 444 new cases per day. Also, the percentage of people testing positive for the virus remains low at 7.5 percent.
11 a.m.: North Carolina health providers received a total of $757 million from the CARES Act. The disbursements ranged from tens of millions of dollars all the way down to a few bucks. The top five recipients in North Carolina are as follows:
- Duke University Health System, $47,998,634
- Carolinas Medical Center, $47,622,001
- UNC Hospitals, $40,682,698
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, $40,608,546
- Forsyth Memorial Hospital, $27,360,263
The group wants churches to reopen and resume holding indoor services immediately.
Under the current statewide order, worshipers can gather outside and they must maintain social distancing. That guideline will be in place until at least May 22, when North Carolina could enter the second of a three-step process to resume business and social activities during the pandemic.
10:30 a.m.: Durham will reopen the Waste Disposal and Recycling Center at 2115 E. Club Blvd. on Monday. Most Durham facilities, including City Hall, police headquarters, all fire stations and all Durham Parks and Recreation facilities remain closed to the public until further notice.
10:15 a.m.: Creedmoor has canceled its annual Fireworks Display over Lake Holt, originally scheduled for July 3.
10 a.m.: The North Carolina Education Lottery has reopened all its claim centers, with social distancing guidelines in place. Winners of large lottery prizes have not been able to get their prizes in person since March, when the claim centers closed per the statewide stay-at-home order.
According to lottery officials, lottery winners have collected more than $11.8 million in prizes, including a $2 million Powerball prize and two $1 million scratch-off prizes, since the offices reopened Monday.
9:45 a.m.: Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., seniors at Apex High School will pick up their caps and gowns while teachers with matching shirts will line the sidewalk holding signs with all of the students' names. The students and other Wake County seniors are missing out on traditional graduation ceremonies due to the pandemic, but they can wear their robes for virtual celebrations or "drive-thru" graduations. Wake County Schools said it is working on a way to honor graduating seniors.
9:30 a.m.: The North Carolina Technology Association will hold a virtual job fair on May 20. More than 20 companies will be participating, including AvidXchange, Bandwidth, LexisNexis, RTI International, Deutsche Bank and Inmar Intelligence. Many, but not all, of the jobs are related to information technology.
9:20 a.m.: Two downtown Raleigh restaurants will not reopen once the COVID-19 restrictions lift. Founder of Local Icon Hospitality, Jon Seelbinder, announced via social media that Linus and Pepper's and Virgil's Original Taqueria, which operated next to each other at 126 S. Salisbury St., are closed permanently.
9:15 a.m.: Sen. Phil Berger, the Republican leader of the state Senate, said Wednesday evening that he expects the General Assembly building will be open to the public again next week as lawmakers meet, though they're likely to restrict how many people can come inside.
9 a.m.: Cary has canceled all town-run summer camps through July 3. The town had previously canceled all classes, camps and programs, as well as ticketed events and rentals, through May 31. Registration for non-camp summer 2020 programming is postponed until further notice. Refunds will be given.
8:30 a.m.: Nearly 3 million workers in the U.S. sought jobless aid last week, raising the total layoffs since the virus struck to 36 million.
8:15 a.m.: America faces the “darkest winter in modern history” unless leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus, said immunologist Dr. Rick Bright, a government whistleblower who alleges he was ousted from his job after warning the Trump administration to prepare for the pandemic.
Aspects of his complaint about early administration handling of the crisis are expected to be backed up by testimony from an executive of a company that manufactures, respirator masks.
The return-to-work service includes employee check-in health questionnaires, temperature screens, virus test collection either at the job site or offsite and employee access to LabCorp’s testing, including an at-home kit and a new finger-stick antibody blood test. Later this fall, flu vaccination services will be available.
7:45 a.m.: Harris Teeter is partnering with a clinic to offer free coronavirus tests for qualifying individuals, starting Friday. Tests are by appointment only and are available each Friday, Saturday and Monday. The only site in central North Carolina offering tests is at Don Steed Elementary School in Raeford.
6:30 a.m.: There's new evidence that the coronavirus can spread among cats. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Tokyo purposefully infected three cats. After three days, the team housed the infected cats with healthy ones, which came down with the virus, too. Researchers said there's no evidence that cats can transmit the virus to humans.
5:30 a.m.: Mattel is showing gratitude for first responders as part of its new initiative #ThankYouHeroes. For every career Barbie doll or play set purchased, the company will donate a doll to the First Responders Children's Foundation. The program applies to purchases through Sunday.
5:15 a.m.: A group of Christian faith leaders from Return America will gather in downtown Raleigh at 11 a.m. to demand the reopening of churches. A bluegrass gospel group will perform, and Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest will speak.
5 a.m.: Several beaches in Los Angeles County are back open Thursday morning but with restrictions. People can swim or walk along the shore, but masks are required. People can't set up a chair, sit down on towels or hang out. Basketball courts, piers, boardwalks and parking lots will remain closed.
4:45 a.m.: Six Flags amusement park will reopen soon but begin requiring reservations and payment in advance. The company says the new process will allow parks to clean and ensure safe social distancing ahead of time. There will also be limits on how many people can enter the amusement park. An official open date was not announced.
4:30 a.m.: Amazon is shipping non-essential items again. In March, the company said it would prioritize shipments of household items and medical supplies at its warehouses as it became overwhelmed with demand for them. Amazon has since lifted the restrictions on non-essential items, which means its warehouses and delivery times may be returning to normal.
4:15 a.m.: A group of teachers from Oakview Elementary School in Holly Springs drove through the Sunset Hills neighborhood in to show their appreciation and love for their students, whom they haven't seen in two months. Principal Steve Moore even wore an owl costume, the school's mascot.
4 a.m.: WRAL is partnering with the Bandit Flight team and the North Carolina Healthcare Association for
a flyover honoring frontline workers. The six-plane team will fly over WakeMed Raleigh, Duke Regional, UNC Rex, WakeMed Cary, Duke University Hospital, UNC Medical Center and Duke Raleigh starting at 7 p.m.
