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See the latest news and updates about COVID-19 and its impact on the Charlotte region, the Carolinas and beyond.

Gov. Cooper Declares State Of Emergency For Coronavirus

Roy Cooper
ncdhhs.gov
Gov. Roy Cooper speaks at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency in North Carolina on Tuesday as the state has seven presumptive positive coronavirus cases and supplies to test just 300 more people.

"I ask all North Carolinians to take this seriously," Cooper said in a news briefing Tuesday afternoon. "Anyone can carry the virus to loved ones or friends who could become ill. Protecting public health means being cautious and being prepared. Today, we are both."

Declaring a state of emergency allows the state to request federal funds, helps speed access to medical supplies and gives health and emergency managers budget flexibility, Cooper said. He added that the declaration protects consumers from price gouging and encourages insurers to make testing available for little or no cost.

Five new cases of COVID-19 — the disease caused by the new coronavirus — were idenfied Monday in Wake County, all of which involved people who attended a BioGen conference in Boston, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release. Several cases of COVID-19 across the country have been linked to the conference.

Officials said all five new patients are in isolation in their homes.

As of midday Tuesday, North Carolina's state lab had tested 44 people for COVID-19, according to health officials. Cooper said the state has supplies to test about 300 more.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, two new presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 were identified in Camden in Kershaw County. Both individuals are currently hospitalized.

As of Tuesday afternoon, South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control had tested 41 people, with seven presumptive positive cases and two confirmed cases. The remaining 32 cases were negative.

Six of the nine cases presumptive or confirmed positive cases are in Kershaw County.

 

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Jodie Valade has been a Digital News and Engagement Editor for WFAE since 2019. Since moving to Charlotte in 2015, she has worked as a digital content producer for NASCAR.com and a freelance writer for publications ranging from Charlotte magazine to The Athletic to The Washington Post and New York Times. Before that, Jodie was an award-winning sports features and enterprise reporter at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. She also worked at The Dallas Morning News covering the Dallas Mavericks — where she became Mark Cuban's lifelong email pen pal — and at The Kansas City Star. She has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Master of Education from John Carroll University. She is originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan.
Claire Donnelly is WFAE's health reporter. She previously worked at NPR member station KGOU in Oklahoma and also interned at WBEZ in Chicago and WAMU in Washington, D.C. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and attended college at the University of Virginia, where she majored in Comparative Literature and Spanish. Claire is originally from Richmond, Virginia. Reach her at cdonnelly@wfae.org or on Twitter @donnellyclairee.