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:
- There are at least 15,118 people in 99 North Carolina counties who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
- Coronavirus data: Why WRAL shows more cases than others
- At least 567 people have died in the state from the virus, and another 513 or so remain in the hospital. Meanwhile, at least 2,849 people have recovered from the virus.
- Some North Carolina businesses have reopened under the first stage of Gov. Roy Cooper’s three-phase plan to resume business and social activities during the pandemic.
- Subscribe for daily coronavirus updates
Where are infections, deaths in NC?
12:35 p.m.: The Cumberland County Public Library is encouraging patrons to return overdue library materials to area book drops at their convenience. The library reports up to 50,000 materials are currently checked out. Staff will follow guidelines to quarantine returned books for 72 hours to disinfect them.
During the continued closure, the library is offering temporary e-cards to Cumberland County residents without library cards. The cards will provide access to eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital magazines, online databases, continuing education courses, music and more.
12:30 p.m.: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended a “no sail order” for cruises until July 24.
Specifically, experts point to the closed environment and the demographics of three groups of people on the ships: passengers with an average age in the 70s, people with underlying medical conditions and the ship’s crew members, who tend to be younger but do not leave the ship.
12:15 p.m.: The Bandit Flight Team, a North Carolina-based group of formation pilots, will perform a flyover of multiple towns in Moore, Richmond, Hoke and Lee counties on Saturday to honor area health care and emergency services workers.
The flyover will start over Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford at about 11:45 a.m., then proceed to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital and the Pinehurst police and fire departments at noon, FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital Richmond in Rockingham at about 12:12 p.m. and conclude over FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital Hoke in Raeford at about 12:30 p.m.
The tribute flight was organized by the Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and the organizers of the annual Festival D’Avion.
11:40 a.m.: Days after North Carolina relaxed some of its stay-at-home rules during the pandemic, the rolling seven-day average of new coronavirus infections statewide is at a new high of 443 per day. Overall, more than 15,100 people are infected in North Carolina, and 567 have died.
The percentage of people tested for the virus to have a positive result remains below 8 percent.
11:30 a.m.: When smaller, non-essential businesses got the OK to open over the weekend, so did many larger retail and department stores. Belk opened its North Carolina stores Monday, and Marshalls, HomeGoods, and T.J. Maxx stores are also open.
Other stores, like Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond and JCPenney, will open later this week.
11 a.m.: More than 15,000 people across North Carolina have been diagnosed with the coronavirus over the past two months.
10:30 a.m.: The Metropolitan Opera is streaming free encore presentations every night from the Live in HD series on the company website. According to its website, the opera streams will begin at 7:30 p.m. each night and will be available to view at metopera.org.
10:15 a.m.: A Raleigh Sheetz located at 9915 Fayetteville Road has reopened after one of its employees tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. The employee was last in the store Friday, officials said. Over the weekend, the store was professionally deep cleaned, sanitized and disinfected, along with all gas pumps.
10 a.m.: The number of people filing unemployment claims is dropping in North Carolina each day: 14,586 filed on Friday, 7,122 filed Saturday and 5,922 filed Sunday, according to the state Department of Commerce. A total of 1,112,790 claims have been filed since March 15.
9:30 a.m.: The Blood Connection is offering free COVID-19 antibody tests to all donors. The antibody test does not confirm a coronavirus infection or immunity. Rather, it is an indicator of a body’s immune response to the virus. The results of an antibody test will be posted on the donor’s online portal within seven business days of donation. To donate and get tested, visit thebloodconnection.org and click DONATE NOW.
9 a.m.: The application process has opened for small business owners in Raleigh looking to receive financial aid. Raleigh has set aside $1 million to help food trucks and storefronts with fewer than 49 employees stay afloat during the pandemic.
To qualify, businesses must be locally and independently owned, have experienced at least a 25 percent decline in revenue due to the pandemic between Jan. 1 and April 30 and have not filed for bankruptcy.
8:30 a.m.: Avianca Airlines, the world’s second-oldest airline, is filing for bankruptcy due to the “unforeseeable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Avianca employs 21,000 people throughout Latin America. Nearly 90 percent of countries where Avianca operates are under at least partial travel restrictions.
8:15 a.m.: India saw its highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases, with 4,213 infections reported in a 24-hour period ending Sunday night. Since the pandemic began, at least 67,152 people inside the country have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
8 a.m.: Although South Carolina reopened its non-essential businesses a week earlier than North Carolina, the states’ approaches are converging.
North Carolina originally said it would relax social distancing orders when it saw level or declining trends for cases and hospitalizations. It wanted 5,000 to 7,000 tests per day, 500 contact tracers and enough personal protection equipment to meet every need for 30 days.
The state reached its goals on some measures, such as hospitalizations, and not others, as confirmed cases are still rising. Neither state has seen a steady decline in the number of new cases per 100,000 people.
7:45 a.m.: There are fears about new waves of infection around the world, but especially in South Korea, where a single nightclub customer was linked to 85 new infections. The South Korean government pushed back hard against that wave, halting the school re-openings that had been planned for this week and re-imposing restrictions on nightclubs and bars.
7:30 a.m.: Thousands of people overseas have joined a “human challenge trial” to test coronavirus vaccines and hopefully speed up the process. The participants are agreeing to inhale a nasal spray full of the virus and become test subjects with the hope of bringing a vaccine to the public sooner than expected. There are no current plans for a human challenge trial in the U.S., but more than 14,000 people have joined a group calling for it and are receiving support from members of Congress.
7 a.m: A North Carolina State University student has created an online resource for busy parents struggling to homeschool their children during the pandemic.
6:30 a.m.: A group of mothers at an assisted living center in Johnston County got a surprise from family members Sunday when dozens of cars participated in a drive-by parade to make their moms feel special. The facility is still closed to visitors, but residents were allowed to accept gifts like flowers and balloons for the first time.
6:15 a.m.: Raleigh police officers, firefighters and EMS workers will salute health care heroes Monday morning. Each agency will send vehicles and staff to UNC Rex Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital and WakeMed Raleigh to applaud hospital employees, with vehicle lights flashing, for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first responders salute schedule is:
- Duke Raleigh Hospital at 7:30 a.m.
- UNC Re Hospital at 7:30 a.m.
- WakeMed Raleigh at 8 a.m.
5:30 a.m.: Starting Monday, American Airlines will require passengers and staff on an aircraft cover their faces with some kind of mask. The face masks are required during check-in, boarding and deplaning as well.
5:15 a.m.: At-home testing for coronavirus is underway in Delray Beach, Fla. Firefighters and paramedics began visiting homebound seniors and others who don’t have the ability to travel to testing sites. About $9,000 in community donations is going towards the cost of the kits.
4:45 a.m.: According to the IRS, Wednesday is the last day people will be able to enter their bank information to have stimulus checks deposited directly into their accounts. After Wednesday, the IRS will begin preparing millions of files for paper checks that will begin arriving through late May and into June.
