White House
President Trump will leave the White House for good this week just before Joe Biden is inaugurated Wednesday.
Are Calmer Days Ahead? Or Is A Storm Brewing?
It was another busy news week, and somehow we re wondering: Is this the crest of the wave or are we still in the calm before storm?
It s pretty insane to think that the calm might include 1. President Trump s second impeachment and 2. Such high levels of coronavirus transmission in the Charlotte area that Mecklenburg County s public health director has recommended sticking to virtual options whenever possible for the next three weeks.
In the meantime, we re all still learning to live with a COVID-19 surge, with a new more easily transmissible strain expected to take hold in the U.S. that could lead to overwhelming the health care system more than it has been already. In South Carolina, one coroner is worried she ll run out of morgue space, as WFAE s Sarah Delia reported. And just Friday, Gov. Henry McMaster aske
NC opens COVID vaccines to ages 65 and up. Here s what that means for Charlotte Hannah Smoot and Alison Kuznitz, The Charlotte Observer
Jan. 14 On Thursday, the state announced it would open access to COVID-19 vaccines to anyone age 65 and older.
But in Mecklenburg, no county health clinic appointments are available, the county s medical director, Dr. Meg Sullivan, said. All appointments through the end of January have already been booked, Sullivan said.
Once the county gets access to more COVID-19 vaccines, appointments will be opened for people ages 65 to 74. However, most residents will have to wait months to get their first COVID-19 vaccine shots, Sullivan said.
/
A surprise directive from Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris on Tuesday afternoon said that for the next three weeks, county residents should utilize full-virtual options for work, school and other activity where in-person activity is not required.” COVID-19 community spread is at its highest level of the pandemic.
That led to Charlotte museums to announce closures on Wednesday for the duration of the directive. The Mint Museum, Levine Museum of the New South, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Discovery Place and McColl Center all said they would close until at least Feb. 2
As of January 15th, there were 74,885 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 675 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents.