North Carolina Coronavirus Cases Top 3,600; 65 Deaths

NORTH CAROLINA — More than 200 new cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed overnight along with the deaths of 12 more North Carolinians died, North Carolina public health officials said Thursday.

There are now 3,651 cases of the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, confirmed in North Carolina, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said in its morning update. COVID-19 is also blamed for 65 deaths and at least 398 hospitalizations.

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North Carolina is issuing new mandates for state nursing homes and long term care facilities after a new hot spot of at least 60 new coronavirus infections emerged at an Orange County skilled nursing home, "with more likely to come," Cooper said Wednesday.

Seven of the cases related to the Orange County nursing home have led to hospitalizations and two people have died, Cooper said.

"These are shockingly large numbers," Cooper said.

Separately, at least 31 people associated with a nursing home in Pinehurst, North Carolina have tested positive for coronavirus, Moore County Health Department said Wednesday, the Charlotte Observer reported. Included in that number are 26 of the 96 residents of the Pinehurst Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center, along with five staff members. More test results are pending, health officials said.

There are currently 21 outbreaks in congregate settings, or places where two or more have tested positive, and o those 18 are in long term care facilities, Secretary of North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Mandy Cohen said.

In March, state health officials directed all residential facilities, such as nursing homes, to restrict visitors, except for certain instances, such as end-of-life care. The facilities will now have new set of directives meant to prevent further outbreaks, Cohen said.

Those directives include:

• Requiring all nursing home staff to wear masks when interacting with patients
• Requiring all facilities to close communal areas and restring all non-essential personnel
• Require all residents and staff to be screened daily for symptoms to detect the disease as early as possible
• In the event of an outbreak, all residents who test positive for coronavirus should be grouped in a separate area of the facility, cared for by a separate group of staff

Officials in the Charlotte metro area ratcheted up directives meant to encourage social distancing by locking gates at about 60 of Mecklenburg County's largest parks, Charlotte police announced Wednesday afternoon. The move is an attempt to limit mass gatherings and enforce social distancing orders, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Deputy Chief Jeff Estes.

All of Mecklenburg County has been under a stay-at-home order since March 26, days before a statewide executive order issued by Gov. Roy Cooper went into effect March 30.

With the new order, all of Mecklenburg County's boat ramps also closed Wednesday, according to Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation. Those closures include Ramsey Creek, Blythe Landing and Copperhead Island Boat Ramps.

Park gates were also closed to all vehicles except bicycles effective immediately April 8, parks officials said. Greenways remain available for walk-in and bicycle use. All of Mecklenburg County's sport courts closed March 31.

Despite outliers, most of the Charlotte metro community is stepping up and complying with the order, Estes said. "I want to make it clear that if any citizen, business or anyone else is asked by an officer, told by an officer to comply and they don't, they'll be cited," Estes said. "If they continue to not comply, then they'll be arrested."

As of Wednesday, CMPD has issued 13 citations for non-compliance with the directive and made eight arrests.

In an attempt to provide as much information to our readers as possible, Patch is publishing a county-by-county breakdown of the coronavirus cases in 91 of North Carolina's 100 counties, along with the number of cases by county and the number of deaths:

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