North Carolina reports its first case of the new, more contagious COVID-19 strain Adam Wagner and Anna Johnson, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Jan. 23 North Carolina has identified its first case of a new highly infectious strain of the coronavirus.
The variant was found in a sample from an adult in Mecklenburg County, according to a North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services press release. No other information about the case was released. While expected, identification of this COVID-19 variant in North Carolina is concerning, especially at the same time as we are already seeing very high numbers of cases, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of NC DHHS, in a news release Saturday.
WCCB Charlotte s CW
January 22, 2021
CHARLOTTE, NC – Mecklenburg County Health Department vaccine appointments are booked through the first three weeks of February. The reservations were full within hours of their opening.
As the vaccine roll out slowly continues, Atrium hospital is preparing to treat Mecklenburg County patients outside hospital walls for the first time since the pandemic began.
“We are continuing to see increasing numbers, however, we are seeing a plateau over the last seven to ten days,” said Alicia Campbell, an Atrium Health VP.
She says the mobile hospital unit now stationed outside the Pineville location will treat non-COVID, non-emergency patients. The goal is to free up more capacity inside.
Mecklenburg County to start pop-up vaccine clinics in underserved communities as vaccine supply goes up
Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris said the county is working with area-partners to create vaccine pop-ups to provide equitable access to minorities. Author: Hunter Sáenz (WCNC) Updated: 12:15 AM EST January 21, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. Minority and underserved communities were hit the hardest by COVID-19 throughout this pandemic. When a vaccine was created, there were questions about whether our underserved communities would have equal access to it.
Currently, county health officials are only giving the vaccine out at Bojangles Coliseum.
However, as the county gets more vaccine, which is happening at a slow pace, health director Gibbie Harris said pop-up vaccine clinics and mass vaccinations will take place at churches and health centers in those underserved communities.
Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris announced the county just experienced the second pediatric death in the state of North Carolina since the start of the pandemic. Harris made the announcement during a virtual news conference Tuesday afternoon. Harris did not provide any additional information regarding that death. "This is not an acceptable situation for Mecklenburg County," Harris said. "We need to continue to stay focused on how.
Yet most other states managed to roll out the vaccine more quickly than North Carolina, which has so far administered only about one-third of its allotment. That speed matters, as federal officials have said future distributions may be based on how quickly states are putting shots into arms.
But exactly why North Carolina has fallen behind is complicated.
A survey of dozens of county health departments across the state by the N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network shows a range of problems that have hampered their ability to vaccinate people in the first phase of the rollout namely front-line health workers and the elderly. Problems include: