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Governor Roy Cooper Shares Path Forward for North Carolina

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-Press Release, Office of Governor Roy Cooper

Governor Roy Cooper today charted a path forward for eventually easing certain COVID-19 restrictions while still protecting North Carolinians from a dangerous second wave of the virus.

“This virus is going to be with us until there is a vaccine, which may be a year or more away,” said Governor Cooper. “That means that as we ease restrictions, we are going to enter a new normal. We want to get back to work while at the same time preventing a spike that will overwhelm our hospitals with COVID-19 cases.”

Expert modeling has shown it would be dangerous to lift the restrictions all at once because it would increase the chances that hospitals become overwhelmed and unable to care for severely ill patients. Cooper emphasized that changes in restrictions must protect public health, especially those who are most vulnerable to severe illness, including people over age 65, those with underlying health conditions and people living in congregate settings.

“Experts tell us it would be dangerous to lift our restrictions all at once. Rather than an on/off light switch, we are viewing this as a dimmer switch that can be adjusted incrementally,” said Governor Cooper.

In order to ease restrictions, the state needs to make more progress in three areas: testing, tracing and trends.

TESTING

State planning relies on an increase in testing capabilities to identify, isolate and track new cases of COVID-19. This means having the supplies and lab capacity to do more testing across the state. Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has brought together laboratory partners from the public and private sector to coordinate efforts to ensure testing – diagnostic and antibody – is widely available across the state while also conserving protective equipment.

TRACING

Tracing requires the state to boost the public health workforce and the ability to trace contacts of new cases of COVID-19. Contact tracing can be effective at containing new outbreaks, but it requires more personnel. When a person tests positive, the tracing efforts will help identify who that individual may have been in contact with so those people can get tested and take the right precautions. NC DHHS is working with its partners to increase this critical piece of our public health workforce. New digital tools can also help scale this effort.

TRENDS

In order to ease restrictions, the state needs to understand how COVID-19 is impacting the state and impacting specific populations and regions of the state to determine when to strengthen or ease social distancing policies. Trends that will influence policy decisions will be based on data like the new positive cases, hospitalizations, deaths, as well as the available supply of personal protective equipment, hospital capacity.

“Because we acted early and because we acted together, we have averted the devastating scenarios we have seen playing out in other parts of our country and across the globe. We now need to look ahead at how we stay ahead of the curve. Widespread testing, aggressive contact tracing, and data-informed policy decisions are our best tools to keep our communities safe and protect our frontline workers,” said NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen, MD.

Dale Folwell

Town Talk 04/15/20: Treasurer Folwell Discusses State Pension Plan, COVID-19 Recovery

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

North Carolina State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Folwell, who has served as NC State Treasurer since 2017, is recovering after being hospitalized for five days with COVID-19. “I am thankful for all the caregivers, God, my family, and the prayers and thoughts that got me through this,” Folwell said.

He also expressed appreciation for the healthcare workers who encouraged him through the recovery process. Folwell said doctors and nurses offered emotional support while he was separated from his family due to the strict no visitor policies currently implemented at many hospitals.

Cleared by doctors and health officials to resume his duties, Folwell reassured listeners that the state pension plan is “one of the most conservatively managed in the country, if not the world.”

“Last time we talked [WIZS Town Talk January 23, 2020], we were reassuring people that we were still in the check delivering business, and that’s still the case,” stated Folwell. “Obviously, we’ve had a lot of market volatility since then, but our state pension plan is in great shape, and we continue to be in the check delivering business.”

As of earlier this week, the state pension plan was down approximately 4.2% for the calendar year, while the S&P 500 was down by almost 14%. For the fiscal year that began June 2019, the state plan is up .6%, while the S&P is down approximately 5%. While down, Folwell said he is encouraged by the fact that the state plan is still currently outperforming the stock market.

To help offset some of the losses, Folwell said the state is “looking at some of our cash balances and taking advantage of some of the opportunities being presented to us. Those who depend on this – those that teach, those that protect and those who otherwise serve – will not have to think about this.”

Calling the current economic downturn a “combination of 9/11 and the Great Recession, all combined into one,” Folwell admitted, “Revenues are down, expenses are up, collections are down, and it’s just not a good circumstance for any business.”

Following today’s interview with WIZS, Folwell addressed the current state of the pension plan, among other treasury-related topics, in a monthly “Ask Me Anything” session open to media representatives.

The monthly calls are an opportunity for reporters to ask Folwell questions about N.C. Department of State Treasurer (DST) initiatives, including the Retirement Systems Division, the State Health Plan, the State and Local Government Finance Division and the Unclaimed Property Division.

Audio of the monthly “Ask Me Anything” calls is available by clicking here.

To hear the interview with Folwell in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.

Local Response Rates for US Census; Bureau Seeks Additional Days for Final Count

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-Press Release, United States Census Bureau

The 2020 Census is underway and more households across America are responding every day. Over 70 million households have responded to date, representing over 48% of all households in America.

North Carolina’s overall self-response rate is 45.7%.

According to the US Census Bureau’s website, as of April 14, 2020, the following percentage of households in the local area had self-responded:

Franklin County – 44.4%

Granville County – 47.8%

Vance County – 41.5%

Warren County – 35.3%

The Census Bureau temporarily suspended 2020 Census field data collection activities in March. Steps are already being taken to reactivate field offices beginning June 1, 2020, in preparation for the resumption of field data collection operations as quickly as possible following June 1.

In-person activities, including all interaction with the public, enumeration, office work and processing activities, will incorporate the most current guidance to promote the health and safety of staff and the public. This will include recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing practices.

Once 2020 Census data collection is complete, the Census Bureau begins a lengthy, thorough and scientifically rigorous process to produce the apportionment counts, redistricting information and other statistical data products that help guide hundreds of billions of dollars in public and private sector spending per year.

In order to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau is seeking statutory relief from Congress of 120 additional calendar days to deliver final apportionment counts.

Under this plan, the Census Bureau would extend the window for field data collection and self-response to October 31, 2020, which will allow for apportionment counts to be delivered to the President by April 30, 2021, and redistricting data to be delivered to the states no later than July 31, 2021.

NC WIC Program to Offer Food Flexibility Through May

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-Information courtesy Granville Vance Public Health

Due to COVID-19, there are significant impacts on providing WIC program services and the vendors’ abilities to maintain an inventory of certain WIC-eligible products.

In response to these strains, the North Carolina WIC Program has been approved by FNS to offer specific flexibilities for some of the food package requirements through May 31, 2020.

These flexibilities include:

Milk: Participants who have skim/nonfat or 1% milk on their food benefits will also be able to redeem 2% milk.

Yogurt: Participants who have nonfat/low-fat yogurt on their food benefits will also be able to redeem whole fat yogurt.

Whole Wheat/Whole Grain Bread: Participants will be allowed to substitute authorized whole wheat or whole grain bread in loaf sizes up to 24 oz. when 16 oz. packages are unavailable.

For more information on NC’s WIC program, including a list of departments by county, please visit www.nutritionnc.com/wic/.

State Treasurer Folwell To Address NC Pension Plan Performance

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-Press Release, NC Department of State Treasurer

The state pension plan is weathering the COVID-19-induced economic downturn better than many public pension plans while outperforming the stock market, and State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, will explain why during his “Ask Me Anything” conference call for the media on Wednesday, April 15.

The monthly calls are an opportunity for reporters to ask the Treasurer anything about N.C. Department of State Treasurer (DST) initiatives, including the Retirement Systems Division, the State Health Plan, the State and Local Government Finance Division and the Unclaimed Property Division.

As of Monday, the state pension plan was down about 4.2% for the calendar year, while the S&P 500 had tumbled about 14%. For the fiscal year, the plan is actually up .6% while the S&P is down almost 5%.

A stress test conducted by The Pew Charitable Trusts last year determined North Carolina’s pension plan is better positioned to remain solvent in tough economic times than most public pension plans. Research by Moody’s Investor Services determined, based on unfunded liabilities, that North Carolina’s pension plan was the best-funded among the 50 states, meaning it placed the lowest burden on taxpayers and members who pay into the system.

Meanwhile, emergency powers and other changes to the State Health Plan were implemented to help members respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The State and Local Government Commission is monitoring developments to determine whether cities and counties with bond debt and utility infrastructure needs might require assistance in dealing with declining taxes and fee revenue due to mandated business shutdowns.

Treasurer Folwell, who was hospitalized for five days due to complications from COVID-19, continued to engage in daily operations and decisions with DST staff throughout his illness. He has received the necessary medical clearances from his personal doctor and the Forsyth County Department of Health to return to work.

Among COVID-19 actions taken by DST were State Health Plan waivers for the costs of testing and treatment. Click here and here for more details of those steps.

Audio of previous “Ask Me Anything” calls is available here.

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Granville Commissioners’ April 20 Meeting to Include Public Call-In Option

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-Information courtesy Debra A. Weary, Clerk to the Board, Granville County

The Granville County Board of Commissioners will meet on Monday, April 20, 2020, at 7 p.m. at the Granville Expo and Convention Center located at 4185 Highway 15 South, Oxford to conduct the regular business of the county.

In order to adhere to the COVID-19 restrictions, a call-in option is being provided for the public. The public can listen to the meeting by dialing 888-788-0099 (US Toll-free) and entering meeting ID number 934-5491-3517 and password 675161.

Public comments will be accepted in written format and must be received by Monday, April 20 at 12 p.m. by mail to P.O. Box 906, Oxford, NC 27565 or email to grancomrs@granvillecounty.org.

To view Granville Co. Board of Commissioner meeting agendas and minutes, click here.

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Majority of Granville’s 95 COVID-19 Cases in Prison Complex; 21 Cases in Vance

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-Press Release, Granville Vance Public Health

UPDATE: As of April 13, 2020, there are 95 known confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Granville County. Sixty-six of the 95 cases in Granville County are inmates at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Complex in Butner, NC, while the other 29 are community-based cases.

Vance County has 21 confirmed active cases of COVID-19.

Sadly, we have had our first reported deaths due to complications from COVID-19 in both counties. A 72-year old male from Vance County died April 12, 2020. He was hospitalized and had multiple pre-existing health conditions that worsened as a result of COVID-19.

In Granville County, the Bureau of Prisons reported four deaths to Granville Vance Public Health today. On April 11, 2020, an 81-year-old male died; on April 12, 2020, a 57-year-old male and a 78-year-old male died; on April 13, 2020, a 46-year-old male died, all from complications related to COVID-19. All individuals were also hospitalized and experienced underlying health conditions.

Granville Vance Public Health maintains frequent communication with individuals who test positive. A number of people report feeling better and a few have been released from isolation. The communicable disease team at your local health department continues to perform contact tracing for individual cases with known positive test results.

Other than the outbreak at the federal prison, there is no concentration of COVID-19 cases in any one specific area.

Granville Vance Public Health continues to strongly encourage everyone to continue to stay at home unless absolutely necessary to leave, in accordance with the Governor’s Executive Orders. When you do travel to stores for essential services, you will notice they are implementing additional social distancing policies for your safety. CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. However, a cloth mask is not a substitute for social distancing and proper hand hygiene.

It is important to continue to practice regular and thorough hand washing, avoid touching your face and stay more than 6 feet apart from others at all times. The efforts everyone has participated in to stay home and stay healthy have helped flatten the epidemic curve and will continue to make a difference in stopping the spread of this virus.

Call your doctor if you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 to see if you should be tested or need medical care. If you have mild symptoms, such as fever and cough, without shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, you may not need to be tested. Instead, you should isolate yourself at home and monitor how you are feeling. This will reduce the risk of making the people around you sick.

Testing is most important for people who are seriously ill, in the hospital, in high-risk settings like nursing homes or long-term care facilities, and for healthcare workers and other first responders who are caring for those with COVID-19.

Granville Vance Public Health will provide the most up-to-date and accurate information for COVID-19 in our district online at https://gvph.org/covid-19.

Pandemic Prompts Dept. of Public Safety to Transition Some Offenders to Supervision in the Community

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— Press Release

RALEIGH – In response to the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety today announced it is taking an extraordinary measure to help reduce the spread of the virus in prison facilities. The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice last week transitioned the first individuals who will continue to serve their sentence in the community.

“The department has been reviewing all options to protect public safety as well as our employees and those in the state’s custody,” Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks said. “Many of those options were implemented quickly, providing immediate impact, while others have required more preparation.”

In an effort to keep staff and those in our custody safe, DPS has taken numerous steps over the last several weeks to help reduce the spread of the virus into facilities. Some of the actions include:

  • Suspending visitation, volunteers, work release, and other programs to limit the exposure to the public and avoiding mass gathering situations;
  • Providing extra soap and disinfecting supplies and requiring additional cleaning regimens;
  • Pre-entrance medical screenings for staff;
  • Pre-intake medical screenings for new offenders and a 14-day quarantine period;
  • Suspending acceptance of transfers of offenders from county jails for 14 days; and
  • Dramatically reducing the movement of offenders within the prison system.

Despite these efforts, more than 35 offenders among six separate facilities have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, necessitating use of stronger measures. Twenty staff at 10 facilities have also self-reported positive test results for COVID-19.

By law, the Public Safety secretary has the authority to allow certain individuals to serve their sentence outside of a DPS prison facility, but under the supervision of community corrections officers and/or special operations officers.

Adult Correction is reviewing additional offenders for possible transition to the community to complete their sentence under supervision. All offenders under consideration must meet strict criteria and all legal requirements, such as victim notification in certain cases, before a transfer to the community is approved. The approximately 500 offenders being considered cannot have been convicted of a violent crime against a person and must fall within one of the following categories:

  • Pregnant offenders
  • Offenders age 65 and older with underlying health conditions
  • Female offenders age 50 and older with health conditions and a release date in 2020
  • Offenders age 65 and older with a release date in 2020
  • Offenders already on home leave with a release date in 2020
  • Offenders on work release with a release date in 2020

On Thursday, April 9, six offenders were transferred into the community. All of those six are females and are either pregnant or are 65 or older, and thus in a high-risk category as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a separate effort to reduce the number of incarcerated persons in its facilities, the department has been awarding time credits, where appropriate and in accordance with its statutory authority. This allows some offenders to reduce their maximum sentence and be released to community upon completion of the minimum sentence. In March alone, more than 300 offenders originally scheduled for release in April, May or June, were transitioned to post-release supervision by completing their minimum sentence. Through this process, many individuals who were scheduled for release this spring or early summer have already been discharged or are on an expedited schedule for transition in the next few weeks.

A total of 2,200 offenders were released in March. In fact, since January of this year, over 6,900 individuals have been released from a DPS facility. This is an increase of 10% over the same period in 2019. In addition to the actions of DPS, the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, is also reviewing offenders under its authority for possible release. For example, over the past week, the commission has released more than a dozen pregnant females to community supervision.

“We do not take these new measures lightly. Our staff are working in accordance with CDC guidelines, while being mindful of adult risk management, as well as reentry best practices in order to identify and transition adult offenders into our communities in a safe and efficient manner,” said Tim Moose, Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice.

“This is an ongoing process. We will continue to work diligently to monitor best practices and offender risk, while coordinating any future releases to community supervision, as well as adjusting to this ever-evolving situation to protect our staff, the incarcerated community and the community at large,” Moose added.

For more information, see the comprehensive list of Prisons Actions.

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Granville’s Spring Recycle & Collection Event Moved to May

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

-Press Release, Granville County Government

The annual Spring Recycle and Collection event, originally scheduled for April 25, 2020, has been rescheduled for Saturday, May 16 at the Granville County Expo and Convention Center. The hours are from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Vendors will be on-site offering document shredding services; the collection of electronics, scrap metal, hardback books and other items; and proper disposal of medications, sharps, inhalers, flares, ammunition and fireworks.

Polystyrene/styrofoam – not including packing peanuts – will also be collected during this event, as well as pet supplies for the Granville County Humane Society.

“The spring recycle and collection event gives residents an opportunity to protect our environment while spring cleaning,” said Granville County Recycling Coordinator Teresa Baker. “Shred Ace, GFL, the Granville County Sheriff’s Office, the Humane Society and other vendors and organizations will be on-site and ready to take unwanted items for recycling, shredding, re-purposing or proper disposal.”

To encourage backyard composting – another way to recycle by turning organic materials into soil nutrients – compost bins and countertop caddies will be available for sale during this event.

The Granville County Expo Center is located at 4185 U.S. Hwy. 15 South in Oxford. For more information about this event, contact Baker at 919-725-1417 or email her at bakertd@gcs.k12.nc.us.

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Governor’s Order Provides Flexibility to Expand Hospital Beds, Equipment & Personnel

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-Press Release, Governor Roy Cooper

Governor Roy Cooper took action to provide more access to health care beds and get more medical workers to respond to the rising demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He signed Executive Order No. 130, which expands the pool of health care workers and orders essential childcare services for workers responding to the crisis.

“In a time of emergency we need to make it easier for hospitals to free up bed space and hire more medical staff and this order does that,” Governor Cooper said.

The Order temporarily puts measures in place for licensing, Certificates of Need, and other regulations. The public health crisis needs to scale up services and staff and the Order gives the NC DHHS Secretary the authority to do that during the emergency. Once the crisis has passed, the rules will be put back into place.

“We have never faced emergency demand for health care like we do today, and we must act now,” added Governor Cooper. “If we do this work well, along with social distancing, our hospitals can handle the hardships of this pandemic.”

EXPANDING SERVICES, BEDS STATEWIDE

The Order offers flexibility using and moving resources, such as beds, dialysis stations, CT and MRI scanners. It means hospitals can more quickly increase the number of beds to take critically ill patients and allow an ambulatory surgical facility to operate as a temporary hospital.

Though the Order loosens regulations, expanding beds and services will still require the NCDHHS, Division of Health Service Regulation to approve written requests that explain how an increase in capacity, relocation or addition of resources, equipment acquisition, or change in facility operation addresses public health needs and related safety measures.

EMERGENCY CHILD CARE SERVICES

The Order allows childcare facilities to remain open or to reopen to care for children of essential business workers, children who are receiving child welfare services, or children who are homeless or living in unstable or unsafe living arrangements.

The Order requires the facilities to apply for approval and to follow the NCDHHS Emergency Facility Guidelines but also provides flexibility in activities and continuing education requirements for caregivers.

EXPANDING POOL OF HEALTH CARE WORKERS AND ACCESS TO TELEHEALTH

The Order will allow out-of-state licensed workers to practice in North Carolina during the emergency and may allow retired health care professionals, students training for health care jobs and unlicensed, skilled volunteers to provide care.

Expanded telehealth services and flexibility for in-home care are also included in the Order.

The Council of State concurred with the Order today. Read the full Order.

Read a summary of the Order.