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10:50 in the morning
Carolina Hurricanes has rescheduled another game due to COVID-19.
The home hurricane game against Tampa Bay Lightning originally scheduled for Tuesday will be played on February 22nd. Last week, Carolina postponed games against Nashville and Florida due to COVID-19 safety measures.
10:30 in the morning
UNC Health will receive 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the state this week, less than half of what was expected.
UNC Health said it would not cancel or postpone any news-based meetings. The lower allocation meant that fewer appointments were scheduled.
“We understand the frustration and disappointment of not being able to get an appointment for a faster vaccination,” said Dr. Ian Buchanan, president of UNC Health for outpatient and post-acute care. “This is really a matter of supply and demand. We are very aware of the concern that this causes for all those who are now eligible to receive a vaccine and cannot receive an appointment or who spend hours trying to get one.”
UNC Health requires patients to call the state’s COVID-19 at 1-877-490-6642 or search online to find a vaccination location. The UNC has fired more than 75,000 shots since the start of the vaccination program in December.
10:20 am
Wake County reported a COVID-19 outbreak at a care home in Cary, the second in the facility since September.
Brookdale MacArthur Park on MacArthur Drive had the second outbreak of the pandemic. An outbreak is defined as a situation in which two or more people – residents or employees – have given positive results. No other information about residents or employees was disclosed.
10:15 am
The state has launched a set of COVID-19 community training tools to help people with disabilities and mental health problems. The toolkit contains resources for parents who help their children through distance learning as well as family needs.
The toolkit can be found here.
“These are unprecedented, stressful times and we know that families and individuals face existing and new mental health challenges,” said Victor Armstrong, director of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Substance Abuse Services. “We want to give North Carolina this set of tools to give them all the support they need to navigate these difficult times to stay physically and mentally healthy.”
MORNING LINE PUBLICATIONS
Three new COVID-19 tests will open on Monday in Wake County.
Jaycee Park and Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh, along with Lake Benson Park in Garner will be open for testing. All sites are accessible by public transport and start at 11:00. You do not need an appointment, insurance or ID to be tested.
For a complete and up-to-date list of test sites in Wake County (including hours of operation), click here.
Sunday marked the fourth consecutive day of more than 100 COVID-19 deaths in North Carolina. Over the weekend, the United States passed 25 million cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
In Chatham County, more than 400 people (health workers and those over 65) are expected to be vaccinated Monday at the Chatham County Agricultural and Conference Center.
President Joe Biden expects to reinstate COVID-19 travel restrictions for non-US citizens who have been to Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and much of Europe
SUNDAY
18:00
The bleak numbers released over the weekend are cause for concern: 100 COVID-19 deaths for four days in a row. Health authorities in Wake County recommend testing for anyone who shows signs of possible exposure.
“So if you have a fever, you develop a fever, you have nausea, vomiting, headache, and you lose your sense of smell or taste. These are typical signs of someone who may be symptomatic of COVID,” Wake County Health said, clearly testing Eugene Chalwe. “The county’s goal is to maintain six test sites each week. So we maintain our three static sites, at Swinburne in Wake Forest, at Departure Drive, and we still do three rotating sites in each park. “
Wake County Health is working with Raleigh and Garner to make these sites available Monday: Jaycee Park and Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh, along with Lake Benson Park in Garner. They are located in areas that are accessible by public transport.
“Because their positivity rates are still very high across the county,” Chalwe said. “So, we want people to respond to this access that they have and I know that the emphasis has turned into a vaccine. They still need to be tested if exposed. We only know your condition if you test. So if you are not testing, and you have been in close contact and have been contacted by case evaluators, you need to test. “
The tests are free and you do not need insurance or ID to test yourself. Check here for the latest test site location.
12:15 p.m.
North Carolina reports 6,096 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 718,812 at the state level.
Across the state, there are 3,303 people hospitalized with COVID-19. It is down 113 on Saturday.
In North Carolina, another 109 people died from COVID-19. This leads to a total of 8,695. This is the fourth day in a row that more than 100 people in North Carolina have died from the virus.
The percentage of daily state testing rate is 10.5%. It is down from 10.9% on Saturday.
11:04
According to Johns Hopkins University, there were 25,003,695 COVID-19s in the United States.
COVID in the US: 40% of Americans live in areas that lack ICU space
SATURDAY
11:20 am
North Carolina reports another 7,181 cases of COVID-19, reaching 712,716.
With 96% of hospitals reporting, there are 3,416 people hospitalized with COVID-19. This is down 96. This is the fifth day in a row that hospitalizations have dropped.
There were another 122 COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total to 8,586 at the state level.
The state reports a positive daily test rate of 10.9%, up slightly from 10.1% on Friday.
10:30 in the morning
Lee County officials reported four more COVID-19 deaths. This brings the total number of county deaths to 50.
10:08
NCDHHS reported the first identification of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 to a North Carolina resident on Saturday morning. The variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in December.
Variant B.1.1.7 was found in a sample from an adult in Mecklenburg County processed by Mako Medical Laboratories.
In the United States, 195 cases of B.1.1.7 had been reported in 21 states as of January 22, 2021. Early data suggest that this variant may be more contagious than others.
Current COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be effective against the new variant, officials said.
While expected, the identification of this COVID-19 variant in North Carolina is worrying, especially at a time when we are already seeing a very large number of cases, said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, MD. “It’s more important than ever to practice 3Ws.”
Health leaders are not surprised by the strain that is here, but they are extremely worried about what might happen next.
“The evidence we have so far is that they are more infectious than the virus that is currently circulating,” said Dr. Zack Moore, a state epidemiologist in North Carolina. “It will really put pressure on us to be very careful about our prevention measures,”
The prediction comes as health care systems across the country feverishly trigger vaccination efforts.
“It’s kind of a perfect storm. We just can’t get a break and stay in front of that,” said Dr. Tom Denny, chief operating officer of the Duke Vaccine Human Institute. “Our rate of vaccine administration across the country is still quite slow and it is unlikely that we will get such a large increase by April that, if we have this option, we will be able to avoid it because we have vaccinated so many people. “
Denny says there is some evidence that the current vaccine provides coverage, for the most part, against the variant.
7:15 am
According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been 24,822,604 COVID-19 cases in the United States since March.
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