11:45 h
The NCDHHS report on Friday included 1,915 newly notified COVID-19 cases. There are currently 970 people admitted; 25 less than yesterday.
The positive daily percentage rate was 4.0%.
22 more deaths have been reported today. Unfortunately, 11,805 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.
10:45 h
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made it official: schools are now being asked to allow a 3-foot distance between students and primary school staff.
The guide comes after a study found no detectable differences in COVID-19 infection rates among young children who correctly wore separate 3- or 6-foot masks.
The recommendation remains even in communities where COVID-19 transmission is high, according to a CDC statement released Friday. Middle schools and high schools in high-transmission communities are still required to be kept 6 feet away.
5:40 am
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could announce a change in its COVID-19 school orientation.
According to reports, the agency is considering reducing the recommended space between students from 6 to 3 feet. That decision could come as early as Friday.
New evidence that it may be safe for schools to place students 3 feet away (half the recommended distance above) could offer a way to get more children back into the classrooms with limited space.
Although more teachers receive vaccines against COVID-19, social distancing guidelines have remained a major hurdle for U.S. districts. risk for them or for teachers.
Published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the research examined Massachusetts schools, which has supported the 3-foot guideline for months. Illinois and Indiana also allow a distance of 3 feet and other states like Oregon are considering doing the same.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now also exploring the idea. The agency’s director, Dr Rochelle Walensky, said the 6-foot guideline is “one of the biggest challenges” schools have faced in reopening.
The CDC included the largest space in its latest school guidelines, published in February, and concluded that schools can operate safely during the pandemic with masks, distancing, and other precautions. He suggested 6 feet and said that physical distancing “should be maximized to the maximum.”
Other organizations have published more relaxed guidelines, including the World Health Organization, which urges 1 meter in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics says space desks are “3 feet apart and ideally 6 feet away.”
WEATHER FRIDAY MORNING
Vaccine appointments will return to the track on Friday after being postponed Thursday due to the threat of severe weather.
Wake County inoculation sites are increasing today’s ability to make room for people who were supposed to be vaccinated yesterday.
If you had an appointment on Thursday, it will happen at the same time and place on Friday. If you had an appointment on Friday, nothing has changed.
That means Wake County sites will have to distribute twice as many vaccines today.
COVID-19 tests were also canceled on Thursday, but normal test hours resume on Friday.
THURSDAY
17:24
Governor Cooper will see vaccines at the Vidant / Pitt large-scale vaccine clinic in Greenville on Friday, his office announced.
4 p.m.
With the United States closing President Joe Biden’s goal of injecting 100 million coronavirus vaccines weeks ahead of schedule, officials say the nation is now in a position to help deliver shots to Canada’s neighbors and Mexico.
The Biden administration announced plans for a plan to “lend” vaccines to Canada and Mexico, as the president announced that the United States is on the verge of injecting 100 million doses into Americans, much ahead of its goal of reaching the benchmark within the first 100 days in office.
Biden announced that the United States will reach 100 million on Friday, the 58th day of his administration.
3 p.m.
The United States is finalizing plans to ship four million combined doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico and Canada in its first shot export.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the Biden administration plans to send 2.5 million doses to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada as a “loan.”
The AstraZeneca vaccine has not been licensed for use in the United States, but has been licensed by the World Health Organization. Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford thanked Biden for his willingness to share the vaccines.
Canadian regulators have approved Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but acquiring them has proven difficult. Canada ranks 20th in the number of doses administered, with approximately 8% of the adult population getting at least one shot. This compares to about 38% in the UK and 22% in the US
Mexico has completely vaccinated more than 600,000 people and more than 4 million have received a single dose in a country of 126 million.
12:08 pm
The Halifax County Department of Health reports seven new cases for a total of 5,084 positive COVID 19 cases. There were 102 deaths, 2.0% of all cases.
Halifax County is also giving vaccines against COVID-19 until 4:30 p.m. at the Griffin Center on the campus of Halifax Community College 200 College Drive in Weldon.
Vaccines are available for all over the age of 18, by appointment. Please arrive at the top of the hour or half hour.
12 h
Thursday’s NCDHHS report included 2,004 recently reported cases of COVID-19. 995 people were hospitalized; 7 people less than yesterday.
The positive daily percentage rate was 3.9%.
Unfortunately, 11,783 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.
11:30 h
CVS Health will begin administering vaccines to eligible individuals on Sunday, March 21 at eight additional CVS pharmacy locations in North Carolina. Appointments for the last dose assignment will begin to be available for booking on Friday, March 19, as stores receive shipments of vaccines.
Patients must pre-register at CVS.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app, and individuals without online access can contact CVS Customer Service: (800) 746-7287 . Vaccines will not be provided without prior appointment.
10 h
Walgreens says it is aware of a technical issue with its scheduler in which some patients received appointment confirmation numbers that have not been added to the pharmacy vaccination program.
“This issue has been resolved since then,” a spokesman said in a statement. “We are committed to respecting the vaccination appointments that have been made in our system and we are working with all affected patients to reschedule their appointments. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
9 h
Health experts say the rise in coronavirus cases in Europe should serve as a warning to the US not to leave guarantees too soon.
Optimism is spreading in the United States as virus deaths plummet and states reduce restrictions.
But across Europe, they are tightening restrictions in the midst of a wave of cases affecting some hospitals.
The divergent paths of the pandemic on the two continents may be related to the more successful vaccine deployment in the United States and a wave of more transmissible variants in Europe. Health experts add that some areas of Europe were also too fast to relax distancing requirements.
THURSDAY LINES FROM THURSDAY MORNING
At a news conference Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper and DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said they hoped all North Carolina adults would be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine before May 1, in line with the promise of President Joe Biden. earlier this week.
Many COVID-19 vaccination and testing sites in North Carolina made schedule changes Thursday due to the severe weather forecast.
On Thursday afternoon on ABC11, Governor Cooper will appear on GMA3: What You Need to Know. He will discuss the state’s HOPE program, which helps cover housing and prevent evictions.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to 770,000, a sign that layoffs remain high, even as much of the U.S. economy is steadily recovering from the coronavirus recession. .
Thursday’s report from the Department of Labor showed unemployment claims had risen by 725,000 the previous week.
Figures have fallen sharply from the depths of last spring’s recession, but still show employers in some industries continue to lay off workers. Before the pandemic, applications for unemployment benefits had never exceeded 700,000 in a week.
The four-week average of claims, which softens weekly variations, dropped to 746,000, the lowest since late November.
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