RALEIGH, N.C. — Here are the latest North Carolina coronavirus updates on cases and the pandemic’s impact on our health, jobs, schools and more:
What you need to know:
Where are infections, deaths in NC?
9:19 p.m.: Robeson County is reporting 31 additional COVID-19 cases, including a 6-month-old, a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old. There have been 354 total cases there since March 21.
9 p.m.: Thirty coronavirus-related deaths were reported across North Carolina on Thursday, including two each in Edgecombe, Harnett and Northampton counties and one each in Franklin, Vance and Wilson counties.
7:45 p.m.: Chatham County has the highest rate of coronavirus infections in North Carolina, at 56.7 per 10,000 residents, according to WRAL's Data Trackers.
Meanwhile, Franklin County has the highest death rate during the pandemic, at 29.4 fatalities per 10,000 residents. Fourteen of the county's 20 virus-related deaths were residents of Louisburg Nursing Center, which has one of the highest death tolls of any long-term care facility in the state.
5:20 p.m.: A seventh inmate at the federal prison complex in Butner has died of coronavirus-related complications, officials said.
William E. Miller,58, went into respiratory failure on April 7, two days after he tested positive for the coronavirus. He was later placed on a ventilator but died Wednesday. He was serving a 14-year sentence for coercion and enticement of a minor in upstate New York.
Butner has one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the federal prison system, with at least 243 inmates and 20 staffers infected.
5:15 p.m.: Ten more people have died in Orange County of coronavirus-related complications, pushing the county's death toll in the pandemic to 30.
Twenty-eight of those deaths were residents of two local nursing homes: 16 at PruittHealth's Carolina Point facility in Durham and 12 at Signature HealthCARE in Chapel Hill.
4:50 p.m.: The North Carolina Retail Merchants Association is urging people to "shop smart" when various retailers reopen this weekend amid relaxed restrictions under the statewide stay-at-home order. Association President Andy Ellen said shoppers should wear masks or other face coverings, stay at least 6 feet away from other customers and store employees and wash their hands frequently or use hand sanitizer to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
"North Carolina retailers aren’t just the backbone of local economies – they’re the first ones to step up in times of need,” Ellen said in a statement. “The ability of these retailers to rebound from this pandemic will benefit everyone, so we encourage residents to shop NC and shop smart as we support these vital businesses.”
4:15 p.m.: Raleigh will resume curbside yard waste collection service on May 19. The city suspended the service several weeks ago to limit the spread of coronavirus among workers.
Now, smaller crews will be used to ensure social distancing, officials said.
"We expect the yard waste collection volume to be larger than normal. Therefore, we are unable to specify pickup dates," officials said in a news release. "Place your yard waste at the curb by 6 a.m. starting on May 19 and leave it out until it is collected. Once your yard waste has been collected, your next pickup will not occur until two weeks later."
Schedules should be aligned by July 10 so that yard waste and recycling are collected on the same day, officials said.
4:10 p.m.: The state Division of Motor Vehicles has closed its headquarters building in Raleigh after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus. The employee, who worked in an area not open to the public, was last in the building on Wednesday, officials said.
The building on New Bern Avenue will undergo a thorough cleaning by a professional service before it can be certified as safe to reopen, but officials said there is not a set timetable for completing that process.
The License Plate Agency at the DMV headquarters has been closed for several weeks.
Other DMV employees have been notified in case they need to quarantine themselves.
2:30 p.m.: Amtrak is requiring that all customers in stations, on trains and thruway buses wear facial coverings, starting Monday. Facial coverings can be removed when customers are eating in designated areas, in their private rooms, or seated alone or with a travel companion in their own pair of seats. Small children who are not able to maintain a facial covering are exempt from the requirement.
2:10 p.m.: North Carolina recorded its largest one-day increase in coronavirus cases on Thursday, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services.
But Cohen noted that testing has expanded statewide and the percentage of positive tests remains low, which gave state officials confidence to move into the first stage of a three-phase program to resume business and social activities during the pandemic on Friday.
"I feel comfortable with where we are," she said.
2 p.m.: IndyCar says it will open its delayed season on June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway, according to The Associated Press. No fans will be in the stands for the night race.
1:50 p.m.: North Carolinians who couldn’t claim lottery prizes in person since March 10 due to the coronavirus outbreak will get additional time to collect their winnings. Under new state legislation, winners of North Carolina Education Lottery prizes have until Nov. 1 to claim prizes from tickets that expire between March 10 and Aug. 1.
1:20 p.m.: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded nearly $13 million to 39 health centers in North Carolina, to expand coronavirus testing.
"Widespread testing is a critical step in reopening America, and health centers are vital to making testing easily accessible, especially for underserved and minority populations," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. "Further, because health centers can help notify contacts of patients who test positive, they will continue playing an important role in cooperating with state and local public health departments."
1:05 p.m.: Operation COVER (Community Outreach for Vulnerable Essential Retailers/Responders) will provide hundreds of free masks Monday afternoon at the Harnett County Courthouse to local grocery store clerks and gas station attendants.
The organization is part of the Veterans Treatment Court in Harnett County, and Chief District Court Judge Jaqueline Lee sewed more than 100 of the masks herself.
1 p.m.: Meals on Wheels programs nationwide are being flooded for requests for meals from people stuck inside under stay-at-home orders. A survey conducted by Meals on Wheels America found that programs are serving 56 percent more meals and 22 percent more seniors per week and that waiting lists for meals, which existed before the COVID-19 crisis, have grown by 26 percent.
"We have added over 200 new participants in the last month, and we receive requests for our service every day," Meals on Wheels of Wake County Executive Director Alan Winstead said in a statement. "We also have added 2 additional meals per person to our regular weekly delivery. Meals on Wheels Wake County is continuing to deliver meals to people who are sheltering in place and are depending on us for their health and safety."
12:10 p.m.: North Carolina state parks plan to reopen Saturday as part of the first stage of the three-part plan to resume business and social activities during the pandemic. While most roads, trails, restrooms and some boat ramps will open, some access areas may remain closed, so visitors should check park webpages for details. Campgrounds, picnic shelters, swim areas, playgrounds, visitor centers and other common gathering areas will remain closed during this phase.
11:50 a.m.: The North Carolina Values Coalition is criticizing Gov. Roy Cooper's plan to restart business and social activities in North Carolina during the pandemic. The group says the restrictions on churches in the first stage of the plan are discriminatory.
"Telling churches they can only worship together outside, while allowing businesses to open their stores to 50% capacity is an undue burden on religious freedom and is unconstitutional," Values Coalition Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald said in a statement. "Churches are capable of exercising the same social distancing and safety guidelines as other retail businesses."
11:30 a.m.: More than 13,400 people in North Carolina have tested positive for coronavirus, with about 22 percent of those infections reported since last Thursday as testing becomes more widespread. The virus has killed 521 people statewide.
11:25 a.m.: Belk will reopen its North Carolina department stores next Monday. Stores will limit the number of people shopping inside at any one time to ensure social distancing standards are observed, and fitting rooms will remain closed. Operating hours have been cut back to noon to 6 p.m.
The Charlotte-based retailer said it will open its stores in Florida, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi on Friday. Stores in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma opened last week. Curbside pick-up of online orders is available at all stores.
11:20 a.m.: The U.S. Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program has slashed the maximum amount allowed on loans it issues, and the SBA is blocking nearly all new applications from small businesses, according to The Washington Post.
The program, which is separate from the Paycheck Protection Program, was given more than $50 billion in new funding to offer quick-turnaround loans to businesses slammed by the coronavirus.
11 a.m.: Chapel Hill is offering up to $2,000 in rent relief to needy residents. The Town Council allotted $135,000 to a fund to assist those struggling to pay for housing.
To apply, email HousingHelp@orangecountync.gov.
10:35 a.m.: Neiman Marcus has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, sounding an ominous note for department stores during the coronavirus pandemic.
10:30 a.m.: WRAL News' interactive data on the coronavirus now includes a searchable ZIP code map. Data from the state Department of Health and Human Services has been combined with WRAL technology to show how ZIP codes compare across the state in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths, adjusted by population.
10 a.m.: More than three in four potential sellers, or 77%, want to sell their homes following the end of stay-at-home orders, according to a new survey from the National Association of Realtors.
At the same time, Apartment List surveyed 4,000 renters and homeowners and found that 31% of failed to make their full May housing payments, up from 24% in April. According to the survey, 22% have not yet made a housing payment for May, and an additional 9% have made only a partial payment.
9:45 a.m.: Boards of commissioners in eight eastern North Carolina counties have sent a letter to Gov. Roy Cooper asking that he repeal his statewide stay-at-home order.
"We no longer can sit idle as these orders cause vast economic despair and irreparable harm to our small businesses and citizens. As a region, we ask that you authorize local control of decision making in regards to a phased reopening approach to local county governments," commissioners in Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico and Wayne counties said in the letter.
The commissioners note that their economies are still struggling to recover from flooding in recent hurricanes.
9 a.m.: Two customers shot two McDonald's employees in Oklahoma City Wednesday after they were told to leave the store's dining area, police say.
8 a.m.: Vance County plans to honor the Class of 2020 with drive-thru graduation ceremonies. Each senior will have a time slot for their moment to walk across a stage and get their picture taken while carloads of people pass through.
7 a.m.: Wake Forest will resume yard waste collection Monday morning. In March, the town suspended yard waste collection when the Raleigh Waste Center closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The town now uses a private facility.
6:30 a.m.: A man detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in California has died from coronavirus complications, becoming the first known death of a detainee in the agency's custody during the pandemic. The 57-year-old man died at a San Diego-area hospital after being transferred in from a privately operated detention center.
6:15 a.m.: In a joint statement, officials in Currituck, Dare and Hyde counties said restrictions on entry for Outer Banks visitors will be lifted at noon May 16.
6 a.m.: Franklin Graham will thank staff who worked at a field hospital in New York City. North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse, which Graham founded, set up the field hospital in Central Park to help with overcrowding in the city's hospitals. It will officially shut down Friday after treating 315 patients infected with COVID-19.
5:30 a.m.: The North Carolina Air National Guard will conduct a flyover across central North Carolina to salute frontline workers. The C-17 aircraft is expected to fly over Durham at 11:40 a.m., and over the Raleigh area between 11:50 a.m. and noon. It should reach Goldsboro by 12:07 p.m.
4:30 a.m.: As parents postpone pediatrician visits and wellness checkups out of fear of coronavirus, health experts worry they may be setting the stage for another public health crisis. According to the World Health Organization, more than 117 million children globally are at risk for missing measles vaccines due to the pandemic. In the U.S., health experts are already seeing a decline of up to 60 percent in vaccination rates.
While it's good to be careful, pediatricians say staying up-to-date vaccines is more important. "If we have measles, or whopping cough, or God forbid polio, that might come back, that could be devastating to our children and our country ," said Dr. Saly Goza, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
4:15 a.m.: It's nearly impossible to find Clorox wipes, or any disinfecting wipes, on store shelves. "In some cases, we sold as much in one week as we normally sell in one month," said Benno Dorer, the CEO of Clorox, who said he believes the company will be better off by the summer.
4 a.m.: Public health officials in the U.S. are worried as about half of the states ease their shutdowns and cellphone data shows that people are becoming restless and increasingly leaving home.
Newly confirmed infections per day in the U.S. exceed 20,000, and deaths per day are running well over 1,000. Cases are still rising steadily in places such as Iowa and Missouri and have fluctuated in Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. Researchers recently doubled their projection of deaths in the U.S. to about 134,000 through early August. So far, the U.S. has recorded over 70,000 deaths and 1.2 million confirmed infections.
