Claire Donnelly

Fran Redic is normally pretty nervous about medical stuff. She’s had a few surgeries -- on her rotator cuff, her sinuses and a lumpectomy -- and she worried a lot about anesthesia.  

“My brain goes first to all of the complications,” Redic said. “I always go to, ‘What are the side effects? What are the bad things that can happen?’”

Stephanie Sneed is stressed. 

She has two kids — rising second- and seventh-graders — enrolled in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ all-remote academy for the fall semester. 

“The upcoming school year has my anxiety level off the charts,” Sneed said. 

It’s been about two months since protests first erupted in Charlotte over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Here, across the U.S. and the world, people took to the streets to demonstrate against police brutality and the mistreatment of Black people. We’ll take a look back at those protests and answer your questions about policing and protesting.

Charlotte’s Tryon Medical Partners is one of about 90 locations across the U.S. that will participate in the Phase 3 trial of a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the company Moderna.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in North Carolina has hit record highs over the past couple of weeks. On Wednesday, the statewide number was 1,142 -- the highest since the pandemic started. Are Charlotte-area hospitals prepared? 

Schools in Charlotte and across North Carolina have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus. Online classes became the new norm. Many in-person graduations, sporting events and proms were canceled. Now, state health officials say North Carolina’s coronavirus trends are moving in the wrong direction. As fall draws closer, what’s next for schools? Will buildings reopen?

North Carolina’s top health official said Tuesday that the state’s coronavirus contact tracers have only been able to reach between one-third and one-half of the people they call.

An Iredell County preschool on Friday reported a cluster of coronavirus cases. It’s the second cluster discovered at a school or childcare facility in the county.   

A study by Wake Forest Baptist Health has found that between 12-14% of people tested in North Carolina have antibodies for the coronavirus -- meaning they have been exposed to the virus -- with most of them showing little or no symptoms. 

As a child, Christine Roseboro Bowser easily noticed the differences between white and Black people in her town. The white people had nicer clothes and nicer homes.

People in North Carolina are now required to wear face masks in many public places. It’s part of an executive order issued by Gov. Roy Cooper that takes effect at 5 p.m. Friday, June 26. When and where do you have to wear a mask? Can you get a ticket for not wearing one? We answer those questions and others.

One of psychologist Blair Hamel’s clients struggles with separation anxiety and hates spending time away from her parents. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, Hamel said she had just gotten her accustomed to going to school and spending some time away from home.

Gov. Roy Cooper says North Carolina will stay in its current phase of COVID-19 restrictions for three more weeks and that most residents will be required to wear face masks in public when social distancing isn't possible. 

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to announce this week whether the state will move forward into Phase 3 of its reopening process. This comes amid a surge in coronavirus cases in North Carolina and mounting pressure from businesses and lawmakers.

Jessica Sanchez is 25 years old and has lived in Charlotte for most of her life. Her parents emigrated from Mexico when she was 11 months old because she needed surgery.

“I wouldn’t move or talk at all," Sanchez said. "So my doctors in Mexico said I wasn’t going to live past three days or three months. Or live, period.”

UPDATED 9:10 p.m.

On the 13th day of demonstrations in Charlotte against police violence and systemic racism, a "March and Feed" led by the Million Youth March of Charlotte and Salisbury began Wednesday night at Charlotte's Marshall Park. Later, the group joined others at the "Silence for the Silenced" vigil in Romare Bearden Park.

Kaden Knight wanted to be a Black Panther growing up. His favorite activist is Huey P. Newton, the cofounder of the Black Panther Party. Knight recently graduated from Charlotte’s Myers Park High School.

Now Knight and his best friend Cameron Parker, who are 18 and 19 years old, respectively, are leading hundreds of Charlotteans protesting against police brutality. Young people have made up a majority of protesters flooding the city’s streets and parks over the past week and a half as they call for change in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

Updated 12:43 a.m.

Saturday was the ninth day demonstrators have taken to the streets of Charlotte to protest systemic racism and police brutality. In the afternoon, UNC Charlotte's "March for Justice" drew together students, faculty, and campus police to march around the campus. Later Saturday in Freedom Park, about 350 people gathered to listen to activists. 

Updated 11:15 p.m.

A forecast of thunderstorms Friday evening led Charlotte city leaders to cancel a planned Community Conversations meeting at the Mecklenburg County Government Center. But that didn't stop demonstrators from marching through the streets of uptown -- and to South End, for the first time -- for an eighth straight night to protest systemic racism and police brutality.

Updated 7:35 a.m.

For the sixth night in a row, protesters took to the streets of Charlotte to decry systemic racism after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. But for the first time since daily demonstrations began, there was a little less tension between protesters and police. 

Charlotte-based Atrium Health is receiving about $191 million in federal grants designed to help health care providers respond to the coronavirus, according to a data analysis by research group Good Jobs First. Critics say the hospital system doesn’t need the money.

This weekend... this week... this month... has been a lot.

Monday night marked the fourth night of protests in Charlotte as a wave of nationwide protests continue in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. Throughout the weekend, thousands of protesters have expressed a range of emotions in Charlotte.

Which is why FAQ City wants to hear from you.

Updated 1 p.m. Sunday

At least 350 people crowded outside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department headquarters in uptown Saturday night. Many chanted and held signs with phrases like “Black Lives Matter” and “Warning: Unarmed Black Man.”

Updated 4 p.m.

The mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, and Georgia's governor tweeted on Tuesday that their states "would be honored" to host the Republican National Convention if it leaves Charlotte. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, meanwhile, said he's looking forward to "continued talks" about COVID-19 safety with RNC organizers after President Trump tweeted that the convention could be moved to another state.   

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said during a visit to Charlotte on Thursday that he and local leaders, including Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods and North Carolina Republican Congressman Richard Hudson, had discussed the Republican National Convention and ways federal and local officials could work together to obtain “extra surge supplies” of materials needed to perform coronavirus diagnostic tests, like swabs and substances called reagents.

Why can’t bars and gyms open in the state’s modified Phase 2? How long will this second phase of reopening last? WFAE’s Lisa Worf and health reporter Claire Donnelly break it down. 

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to announce as early as Wednesday whether the state can move this weekend into Phase 2 of its three-phase reopening plan. On Monday, he said officials wanted “a couple more days” to look at the state’s coronavirus data. 

Gov. Roy Cooper has begun gradually reopening North Carolina in a series of three phases. If you're not sure what to expect under each of those three phases, don't worry! You're not alone. Lots of WFAE listeners have been writing in with questions, and we're here to help.