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GVPH COVID-19 Update: Vance Reaches 1,000+ Total Known Case Mark

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

-Information courtesy Granville Vance Public Health

The following is an update for COVID-19 spread and response in Granville and Vance County as of September 28, 2020. Granville Vance Public Health numbers correlate with the NC Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NCEDSS) data.

The county case numbers reported on the NC county map from the NC Department of Health and Human Services may differ from the ones reported locally as they are updated at different times and may change once residence is verified.

Granville County

1,751 positive test results for COVID-19.

Of those 1,751, 1,092 are community-spread cases located across Granville County. Of those 1,092, 971 have been released from isolation.

Of those 1,751, 523 cases are affiliated with the prison system in Granville County and 494 of those 523 have been released from isolation.

Of those 1,751, 136 are associated with outbreaks at long-term care facilities including 30 at Murdoch Development Center, two at Central Regional Hospital, one at Brantwood Nursing and Rehab Center and 95 at Universal Health Care.

The outbreak at Granville House is no longer active.

Of the 136 cases in long-term care facilities in Granville County, 114 have been released from isolation.

10 individuals in Granville County are hospitalized.

There have been a total of 50 deaths in Granville County: five in the community, one associated with Central Regional Hospital, one associated with Murdoch Development Center, 21 associated with Universal Health Care, and 22 associated with the Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Complex.

Vance County

1,010 positive test results for COVID-19.

Of those 1,010, 885 are community-spread cases located across Vance County. Of those 885, 725 have been released from isolation.

Of those 1,010, 125 are associated with outbreaks at congregate living facilities including 49 cases associated with Kerr Lake Nursing Home.

The outbreaks at Alliance Rehabilitative Care, Senior Citizens Home and Pelican Health nursing home are no longer active.

Of the 125 cases in congregate living facilities in Vance County, 96 have been released from isolation.

12 individuals in Vance County are hospitalized.

There have been a total of 44 deaths in Vance County: 14 associated with the Pelican Health nursing home outbreak, 12 associated with Kerr Lake Nursing Home, two associated with Senior Citizens Home, and 16 in the community.

WIZS Note: There are 160 total known active cases in the Vance County community and 121 in the Granville County community at large at this time (excluding congregate living numbers). One additional COVID-19 related Granville County death and no additional Vance County deaths have been reported in the last seven days,.

Additional Information

The number of those who have been ‘released from isolation’ is determined by the CDC Guidance for discontinuation of isolation for persons with COVID-19.

Please visit GVPH’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard (click here) for tables and graphs that are updated daily.

NCDHHS

NCDHHS Updates Nursing Home Order to Allow Indoor Visitation

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-Press Release, NCDHHS

As North Carolina’s key metrics continue to remain stable and strong infection prevention and control requirements remain in place, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services issued a Secretarial Order yesterday updating visitation guidelines for nursing homes to allow indoor visitation.

“We have focused on protecting the health of nursing home residents since the start of this crisis. Our progress in testing, infection control and slowing the spread of COVID-19 in our communities allows us to move forward with safe indoor visitation in accordance with federal guidance,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D.

Indoor visitation will only be permitted in nursing homes with no COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days and in counties with a percent positive testing rate of less than 10%, reflecting guidance from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Local community transmission levels are the key factor for nursing home outbreaks, emphasizing the importance of community-wide adoption of proven prevention practices (the 3 Ws). Facilities allowing in-person visitation will be required to follow strict infection prevention guidelines.

Throughout NCDHHS’s pandemic response, its five-point strategy for long-term care facilities has focused on prevention, staffing, testing, outbreak management and oversight. The department’s innovative universal testing strategy within skilled nursing facilities has been cited by the Rockefeller Foundation as a national model.

City of Oxford

Public Safety Committee to Discuss Community Relations, Policing This Evening

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-Information courtesy the City of Oxford

The Public Safety Committee for the Oxford Board of Commissioners will meet today, September 29, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held online via Zoom.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss community relations and policing by the Oxford Police Department.

All those interested are invited to attend.

Join Zoom Meeting (click here)

Meeting ID: 833 5825 1666
Passcode: 892587

Dial by your location: 929 205 6099

GCPS Return to Learn

GCPS Releases ‘Return to Learn’ Video to Help Ease Classroom Transition

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-Information and video courtesy Granville County Public Schools

Granville County Public Schools has released an online “Return to Learn” video to help ease the transition of returning to the classroom under Plan B.

Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and students who receive special education services in a separate setting returned to school on September 28. All other grade levels will return on October 12, 2020.

For the first step, students will report to school divided into FOUR groups, each group attending school one day a week. Then, in as soon as two weeks, these same students will transition and begin to report to school divided into TWO groups, with each group attending school two days a week.

For more details, please click here.

Click the play button below to view the video:

Granville County Public Schools

Academic Performance Topic of Upcoming Granville BOE Subcommittee Meeting

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-Information courtesy Granville County Public Schools

NOTICE TO PUBLIC AND PRESS

The Granville County Board of Education Academic Subcommittee will meet virtually on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. to discuss information related to academic performance.

For more information or to receive a link to the virtual meeting, please contact Dr. Michael A. Myrick, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction at myrickm@gcs.k12.nc.us or Mrs. Alston Shave at shavea@gcs.k12.nc.us.

Granville County Public Schools

GCPS Operations Committee to Discuss Renovation of GC Hawley Middle School

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-Information courtesy Granville County Public Schools

NOTICE TO PUBLIC AND PRESS

The Granville County Public Schools Operations Committee will meet on Monday, September 28, 2020, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 101 Delacroix Street, Oxford, NC 27565.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss potential approaches regarding the renovation of GC Hawley Middle School.

For more information, please contact Dr. Stan Winborne, Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Human Resources at winbornes@gcs.k12.nc.us.

Granville County Public Schools

Granville Co. Public Schools Seeks Substitute Teachers

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-Information courtesy Granville County Public Schools

Do you love children? Would you like some steady part-time work that pays well? Would you like to make a difference in our community?

Then consider becoming a SUBSTITUTE TEACHER today! 

Interested candidates must pass a criminal background check and be at least 18 years old. Candidates must also complete a comprehensive training session prior to starting work. Granville County Public Schools will work with individuals on preferences for grade levels and/or particular schools.

Please visit the GCPS website HERE for more information and then begin the process by emailing Kathy Bradley at bradleyk@gcs.k12.nc.us

(This is not a paid advertisement)

Green Rural Redevelopment (GRRO)

GRRO Hires 25 Community Health Workers to Fight COVID-19 in Rural NC

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-Press Release, Green Rural Redevelopment, Inc. 

On Friday, September 25, 2020, 25 community health workers will complete their training and be deployed into communities in Granville, Vance, Franklin, Warren, Nash, Pitt, Halifax and Wake Counties.

Green Rural Redevelopment, Inc. (GRRO) a non-profit organization, has been focused on providing access to healthy food and meals to people in the Kerr-Tar region. Henry Crews, the Executive Director of GRRO notes, “We saw the devastation that the pandemic has brought to our community, and we used our organizational flexibility to expand our programming and grow our team, to reach the ever-increasing numbers of rural residents who have been impacted by the Coronavirus.”

In a partnership with Curamericas Global, Duke Family Medicine & Community Health and the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services, GRRO will join a statewide network of agencies that provide frontline support services, resources and help for residents impacted by the Coronavirus. These efforts are made possible by funding from The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Federal funding made available to the State for pandemic relief services.

Working with local county Health Departments, the trained CHW teams will work with families and individuals who have been directly and indirectly impacted by COVID-19.

On Friday, area Medical Directors and others from the health department will meet with the new support teams to coordinate referrals and service delivery to area residents.

Green Rural Redevelopment, Inc. (GRRO) is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to positively impacting our community by providing avenues of economic development using food agriculture and food supply chain economics in the face of persistent poverty; access to fresh, healthy foods for vulnerable members of the community; and support for health providers to reduce certain chronic diseases through patient access to better, fresh foods.

If you would like more information about this topic, please call Lucette Mercer at (303) 912-2520 or email lucettem@grronc.org.

Ronnie Daniel Scholarship

New VGCC Scholarship Endowed in Memory of George Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Daniel

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College

Faye Daniel Chappell and her brother, R. T. “Tom” Daniel, both of Oxford, recently established a new scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College in memory of their brother, George R. “Ronnie” Daniel.

VGCC will award the Ronnie Daniel Memorial Academic Achievement Scholarship to a student from Granville County. Preference will be given to students in programs of study related to information technology or medical fields. VGCC Health Sciences programs include Radiography, Nursing, Histotechnology, Medical Assisting and Pharmacy Technology.

A new scholarship was recently established at Vance-Granville Community College in memory of the late George R. “Ronnie” Daniel. VGCC will award the Ronnie Daniel Memorial Academic Achievement Scholarship to a student from Granville County. (Photo courtesy the Daniel family.)

“Ronnie would be pleased that from this memorial scholarship, many others will join the ranks of healthcare professionals,” Faye Daniel Chappell said.

Ronnie Daniel was born and raised in Oxford and remained there until his death in 2019. He graduated from J.F. Webb High School in 1967 and attended Hardbarger Business College in Raleigh. Daniel was employed by Food Lion for the last 15 years before he retired. While there, he was a faithful employee, never missing a day of work. He received several awards and recognitions while employed.

“Ronnie had a very outgoing personality and never met a stranger. His ability to interact with people enabled him to form many lifelong friendships. He enjoyed traveling. He particularly loved Disney World and had been there six times throughout the years. He also loved history, especially that which pertained to Granville County. He enjoyed getting out to use his Metal Detector, collecting coins and geodes,” his siblings, R.T. “Tom” Daniel and Faye Daniel Chappell, recalled.

“Thanks to this family’s generosity, the Ronnie Daniel Scholarship will support hard-working students for years to come by allowing them to complete training for rewarding careers,” said Dr. Rachel Desmarais, VGCC’s president.

“We are honored that Faye and Tom would choose to celebrate the life of their brother, Ronnie, by helping VGCC students achieve their educational goals,” added VGCC Endowment Director Eddie Ferguson.

Through the Endowment Fund, VGCC has awarded more than 9,700 scholarships to students since 1982. Scholarships have been endowed by numerous individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education. For more information, call (252) 738-3409.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy Offering Extended Payment Plan Options

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-Information courtesy Tanya Evans, District Manager, Duke Energy

As Duke Energy gradually resumes standard billing and payment practices in North Carolina, our goal is to work with customers in need to ensure they have the opportunity to enroll in a payment plan that meets their specific situation, and that they have an opportunity to connect with local assistance agencies and funds.

Beginning October 1, 2020, customers behind on their bills will receive notices about their past-due balances. Disconnecting a customer’s service is the very last step in a lengthy process, and it’s a step we want to avoid altogether.

That’s why we are giving all customers who need more time to pay the opportunity to establish an extended payment plan to catch up on any balance that accumulated during the disconnection suspension. No customer on a payment plan who is current on that arrangement will be disconnected. It is important that they contact us as soon as possible to set up the payment arrangement.

We want customers facing financial hardship to know that we are here to help. Our team is prepared to support customers through these challenging times and provide manageable solutions to keep their lights on. We can be reached at the following numbers:

Duke Energy Carolinas: 1-800-777-9898

Duke Energy Progress: 1-800-452-2777

We also encourage customers to consider using the online self-service options to avoid longer wait times.

We recognize the financial impacts from this pandemic, for some, are far from over. If you know someone who needs help managing their Duke Energy bill, please encourage that person to give us a call.