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Coronavirus coverage in North Carolina, April 23, 2020: NC deaths double in week, cases up nearly 50 percent

Here are the latest updates on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in North Carolina and across the globe.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Here are the latest updates on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in North Carolina and across the globe:

What you need to know:

Where are cases, deaths in NC?

Latest updates:

7:10 p.m.: Durham County is up to 500 coronavirus cases, and two more virus-related deaths bring the county total to nine, officials said.
7 p.m.: A Tarboro municipal employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first known positive case of a town employee, officials said. Town buildings have been closed since March 20, so the person has no contact with the public, officials said.
6:40 p.m.: Orange County has extended its stay-at-home order, which was scheduled to expire next week, until May 8 to match the statewide order.

"We are monitoring the stats for Orange County and the state daily, and when the data indicates it is safe for us to ease these restrictions, we will do so," Board of Commissioners Chair Penny Rich said in a statement.

6:30 p.m.: North Carolina has recorded 281 coronavirus-related deaths to date, more than double from a week ago. There are nearly 7,900 virus cases statewide, up 49 percent from a week ago.
6:15 p.m.: The U.S. House has sent a nearly $500 billion package for small business and hospitals to President Donald Trump in the latest bid to counter the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump said he planned to sign it Thursday night.

6:10 p.m.: Bill Bryan, who heads the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, says research has shown the coronavirus in droplets of saliva dies more quickly in hotter, more humid conditions and especially under direct sunlight.
6 p.m.: Coronavirus cases are declining in the New York metro area, as well as in New Orleans, Detroit and other major cities, Vice President Mike Pence said.

President Donald Trump said 43 percent of the counties across the U.S. are seeing declines in cases.

"Our only conclusion is that we're getting there America," Pence said.

5:40 p.m.: Alamance County has reported its first coronavirus-related death. The person was older than 65 and had other health problems, officials said.
5:30 p.m.: A worker at a Perdue chicken plant in Bertie County has tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said.

Separately, one inmate and three staffers at Bertie Correctional Institution tested positive.

4:50 p.m.: High-end steakhouse chain Ruth's Chris plans to return the $20 million it received from the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal program targeted at small businesses hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak so they could keep workers on the payroll.

With fewer than 500 employees at each location, the company argued that it does meet the eligibility requirements for the loan and has had to furlough some employees, but it and other national chains that got PPP loans have been under fire in recent days.

4:30 p.m.: An employee of the Sheetz at 7520 N.C. Highway 751 in Durham has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said. The company has shut down the store so it can be disinfected, and the gas pumps also will be sanitized, officials said.
4:10 p.m.: Fayetteville will keep its nightly curfew in place until May 8, Mayor Mitch Colvin said.
4:05 p.m.: Mayor Steve Schewel said he and county officials plan to extend Durham County's stay-at-home order beyond its April expiration. Details will be announced Friday, he said.

"We are not anticipating adding any other requirements in the order that we’ll be issuing," Schewel said. "We’re going to be loosening up a couple more things. We’re going to be gradually opening up."

3:30 p.m.: Gov. Roy Cooper spelled out a three-phase plan to reopen businesses and social activity across North Carolina during the pandemic, which he said would require weeks of downward trends in infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

Cooper said he would announce plans Friday for when public schools statewide can reopen.

3:15 p.m.: Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said North Carolina has expanded coronavirus testing, moving from an average of 2,500 tests a day to 5,000 to 7,000 daily tests in recent days.

"As we test more, we expect to find more" virus cases, Cohen said. But the percentage of positive cases from that expanded testing has dropped in recent days. "That's a good early sign."

Still, the state had the second-highest total of new virus cases on Wednesday, she said. The state needs to see a downward trend in new infections before restrictions can be lifted, she said.

3 p.m.: Gov. Roy Cooper has extended his statewide stay-at-home order through May 8, saying data on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak shows it's too early to lift restrictions that have closed many North Carolina businesses.

"It's clear we are flattening the curve [of infections], but our state is not ready to lift restrictions yet," Cooper said.

2:55 p.m.: Fifty coronavirus cases have been reported at Universal Healthcare of Lillington, including 45 residents and five staff members, officials said. One resident of the facility has died from the virus.

Mass testing at the facility found the outbreak, officials said.

1:10 p.m.: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned Facebook, eBay, Alibaba and other online retail sites that unscrupulous dealers are using their platforms to sell illegal disinfectant products during the pandemic.

"Unregistered disinfectants can put consumers at risk, as they may be ineffective against the virus that causes COVID-19," EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Bodine said in a statement. "EPA is working hard to stop the sale of these illegal products. We also urge consumers to see EPA’s list of approved disinfectant products, available on our website at epa.gov/coronavirus."

11:50 a.m.: Independent contractors and self-employed workers in North Carolina who are out of work because of the coronavirus outbreak can apply for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance beginning Friday. The federal program is designed for people who aren't eligible for regular state unemployment benefits.

For people who have been laid off or had their hours reduced due to the pandemic, the online benefits system will determine eligibility for state unemployment or PUA through a single application. Individuals who have already applied and been denied for state unemployment benefits may need to provide the state Division of Employment Security additional information to apply for PUA.

"This is a complex program, and we have been working hard to get it up and running," Lockhart Taylor, assistant secretary for DES, said in a statement. "We want to get assistance out to people as quickly as possible, while also making sure we protect the integrity of the program by verifying that claimants meet the eligibility requirements for these benefits."

11:10 a.m.: With unemployment claims now nearing 720,000, North Carolina ranks fifth nationally in job losses since the COVID-19 crisis accelerated across the country in March.
A new study from financial information site WalletHub ranks North Carolina, the nation’s ninth-largest in terms of population, and other states based on the percentage growth in claims from a year ago. North Carolina's applications have soared by more than 3,800 percent.
10:30 a.m.: Starbucks is extending its offer of free brewed coffee for first responders and frontline workers through May 31, after serving more than one million cups of free coffee since first announcing the initiative on March 25.
10:10 a.m.: Sales of new homes in the U.S. plunged 15.4 percent in March as the coronavirus outbreak exploded, according to The Associated Press.
10 a.m.: Research shows a majority of Americans support stay-at-home measures. About eight in 10 Americans say they support measures that include requiring Americans to stay in their homes and limiting gatherings to 10 people or fewer – numbers that have largely held steady over the past few weeks.

Only 12 percent of Americans say the measures where they live go too far. About twice as many people, 26 percent, believe the limits don’t go far enough. The majority of Americans, 61 percent, feel the steps taken by government officials to prevent infections of COVID-19 in their area are about right.

“We haven’t begun to flatten the curve yet. We’re still ramping up in the number of cases and the number of deaths,” said Laura McCullough, 47, a college physics professor from Menomonie, Wis. “We’re still learning about what it can do, and if we’re still learning about what it can do, this isn’t going to be the time to let people go out and get back to their life.”

9 a.m.: No matter how you look at the data, the last five weeks have marked the most sudden surge in jobless claims since the Department of Labor started tracking the data in 1967. American workers filed 26.5 million initial claims since March 14.
8:30 a.m.: Elton John announced he will postpone the remaining dates on his "Good-bye Yellow Brick Road" tour due to concerns over spread of COVID-19. However, he has been streaming some unrelated performances from his yard to honor healthcare workers.
8 a.m.: During a time when COVID-19 has much of the economy locked down, North Carolina chicken farms literally have customers sleeping in their cars for a chance of buying their products.

The chicken will be back in Raleigh this weekend. Here's the schedule of upcoming chicken sales.

7:30 a.m.: Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to reveal his plan to reopen North Carolina this afternoon.

Small business owners said they are ready to open their doors and get back to work while taking precautions.

Reopening the state of North Carolina will happen in three different phases, a source familiar with the plans told WRAL News. The source said the timing will depend on data. The governor and his team are watching closely for a downward trend in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations. Plus, they will be looking at the percentage of cases in relation to coronavirus testing.

The first phase would allow people out of their homes. Then businesses could open up with strict social distancing guidelines. Finally, likely way in the future, mass gatherings like concerts and events could start up again.

7 a.m.: President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis have both cautioned reopening states too quickly. Even as Trump has expressed a desire to reopen states as soon as possible to get the economy back on track, he said, "I think (opening) spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlors and barbershops in Phase One ... it's just too soon."

Trump was referencing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's plan to allow such businesses to reopen on Friday.

Tillis has also reflected the sentiment of reopening only when the population is ready – when the number of cases begins to drop.

"When I have gone out, I have worn a mask, and I have been surprised and disappointed to see the number of people who aren’t," he said.

Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of neighboring South Carolina issued a statement saying he agreed the best path forward is to follow the guidelines set by Trump and his team.

6:30 a.m.: Tech giant Cisco is stepping up to help health care workers with an essential need: childcare. The company is partnering with first responders to open childcare hubs in four cities. One of them is Bright Horizons in Harrison Park in Cary. Starting Monday, the center will care for children of first responders, and the program will last eight weeks.
6 a.m.: A band of surgeons, including a neurosurgeon and a pediatrician, are rocking driveways with a pop-up concert near Santa Maria, Calif. They said they want to help teens, many of whom have reported an increase of anxiety and depression from social isolation.

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