COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in North Carolina.
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6:20 a.m.
Transportation Security Administration announced it screened more than 1 million people the day after Christmas.
The day after Christmas was the second most traveled day since the pandemic began. The most traveled day happened the day before Christmas, when TSA screened 1,191,123 people.
The daily numbers this holiday season are about half the number of travelers screened on the same day in 2019.
The TSA numbers come as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention urges Americans to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As cases continue to surge in the wake of Thanksgiving-related travel, health experts warn a similar surge will likely happen in a couple weeks because of the travel related to the end of year holidays.
Monday Morning Headlines
Residents at North Carolina nursing homes and long-term care facilities will begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Monday.
CVS and Walgreens are organizing the vaccinations, but due to privacy concerns, they are not identifying the specific locations that will receive the shots first.
We do know that CVS is administering the vaccines at nearly 900 North Carolina facilities, and more than 40,000 nationwide, starting Monday. The group expects to vaccinate as many as 4 million residents and staff members.
CVS said it will begin offering the vaccine to the general public sometime next year.
Meanwhile, North Carolina’s COVID-19 metrics remain at or near record levels.
To date, more than half a million people have tested positive for the virus in North Carolina, with at least 6,549 dying from it. Updated numbers will be released around noon.
SUNDAY
9 p.m.
President Donald Trump signs COVID-19 relief bill after delaying for nearly a week.
The president announced Sunday that he had signed the bipartisan bill that his own representatives spearheaded but that he earlier in the week called a disgrace.
In a statement the president said he was signing the bill but was also calling on Congress to make changes to it.
12:48 p.m.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 2,898 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, raising the total number of statewide cases to 516,828.
The daily percent positive continues to trend in the wrong direction and has increased by 1.5 percent, raising the total to 11.9 percent. The goal, as set by the NCDHHS officials, is to be around 5 percent.
As of Sunday afternoon, 100 more people are currently in the hospital with COVID-19. For almost a whole week, the number of hospitalizations has been above 3,000.
Twenty-three more people have died due to complications with the virus since Saturday, bringing the total to 6,549.
In total, there have been 6,737,864 completed tests, up 29,776 from Saturday.
SATURDAY
1:40 p.m.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on Saturday released new COVID-19 numbers for the state for the first time in three days.
Numbers were not released on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
The daily case increases for the last three days are as follows:
Dec. 24: 7,703
De. 25: 6,345
Dec. 26: 5,371
Over the last few days, North Carolina surpassed 500,000 total cases since the start of the pandemic.
Currently, 3,023 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state. The number of hospitalizations has been above 3,000 since Dec. 21.
The percent positive in the state is 10.4 percent. The goal is to be around 5 percent.
10:29 a.m.
An offender at Nash Correctional Institution who was diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 died on Christmas night, prison officials said.
The 81-year-old offender had extensive underlying medical issues. He tested positive for COVID-19 on December 8 and was hospitalized on December 20.
“We sympathize with the offender’s family, as losing a loved one is hard enough, but especially so during the holiday season,” said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. “We continue working diligently to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in our prisons because the health and safety of the staff and the offender population continues to be our top priority.”
9 a.m.
A look at the state’s “County Alert System” shows the latest trends in community spread in central North Carolina.
Wake and Durham counties are in the orange zone — with “substantial” levels of community spread.
Cumberland County is in the red zone — with “critical” spread.
The latest update shows more than 90 percent of the state is in red or orange zones.
In the past two weeks, the number of counties in the red zone has increased from 48 to 65.
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