AVERY IS THE LAST REMAINING NC COUNTY WITH NO COVID 19 CASES: As state officials consider relaxing social restrictions by the end of the week, the coronavirus has now been recorded in all but one of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The state’s Department of Health and Human Services reported the first case in Yancey County, located on the western side of the state along the Tennessee border. That leaves only Avery County, another sparsely populated county in western North Carolina, as the lone county not to record a COVID-19 case. The state has now recorded 11,664 cases statewide in 99 counties. That’s a relatively small increase of 155 cases over Saturday’s updated total from DHHS. The state recorded two new coronavirus-related deaths Sunday morning, increasing that total to 422. The number of hospitalized patients dipped to 475, the first time that total has been below 500 since Tuesday.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article242468216.html

JUDGE ORDERS NC PRISONS TO EXPLAIN COVID 19 PROTECTIONS FOR INMATES: A state judge on Friday demanded that North Carolina's prison system provide detailed information about how it's trying prevent the spread of the new coronavirus among offenders. “It is impossible for the court to determine whether specific practices and procedures undertaken at each of North Carolina's incarceration facilities comply with defendants' statutory and constitutional obligations,” Rozier wrote. He is seeking the information by May 8, after which he'll hold a hearing. Several prisoners and civil rights groups, which include the state NAACP and Disability Rights North Carolina, filed a petition three weeks ago with the state Supreme Court asking the justices to act. The Supreme Court dismissed the case but left open the door for the matter to be refiled in another court, Disability Rights attorney Susan Pollitt said Friday.
https://www.wral.com/judge-wants-more-info-on-north-carolina-prison-conditions/19081090/

SENATE RELIEF BILL STILL CONTAINS ONLINE LEARNING NONSENSE: A sticking point between senators on Wednesday was something that’s not in the House bill: a June 30 deadline for detailed remote instructions plans for the 2020-21 school year. However, that was later resolved with an amendment that extended the deadline until July 20. Still, the entire Senate will have to approve it. All of North Carolina’s public schools have switched to teaching students online since Gov. Roy Cooper ordered school buildings closed on March 14. The school days are generally shorter, with schools saying they have to take into consideration that some families are struggling and not all 1.5 million students have the same internet capabilities for online learning. “A piece of legislation that says we need to prove that online learning gets the same outcomes as in-person learning sets us up for failure,” Angie Scioli, the founder of the Red4EdNC teachers group, said in an interview Wednesday. “If our legislature is so out of touch that they don’t know that, they need to get in touch with teachers.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article242368971.html

NC'S COVID 19 STATS ON NURSING HOMES RELEASED, NUMBERS ARE HORRIFYING: Under pressure from advocacy groups and media organizations, North Carolina health officials have released details for the first time Monday on the locations of dozens of nursing homes and other group living facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks across the state. The move marks a significant policy reversal for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, which for weeks has maintained that identifying facilities with outbreaks would reveal confidential health information for particular patients. As of Monday, DHHS reported more than 2,500 cases of COVID-19 and more than 150 deaths from the disease in so-called congregate living settings, which include nursing homes, prisons and residential care facilities. Infections in those settings account for more than one-quarter of the state's total cases, and more than half of all deaths. DHHS data on the outbreaks shows The Citadel, a nursing home in Salisbury, N.C., has the largest number of COVID-19 cases so far at 144. The facility has also seen 10 deaths from the disease.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/nc-health-officials-identify-locations-of-outbreaks-reversing-stanc...

FEDERAL STIMULUS AIM IS TO HELP THE NEEDY, NOT ENRICH THE GREEDY: Most basically, the hope is that families in need will spend the $1,200 per adult on making sure, as far as it will go, the basics of life are taken care of – shelter, food and health. There’s plenty of advice for those who may be in a position to share some of their stimulus check with organizations that help those in need. But some North Carolinians and others across the nation are discovering someone else has already decided what will happen to those stimulus funds – and grabbed them within seconds of the funds arriving in a bank account. Banks, lending institutions, debt collectors and others are making claim. Consumer advocates, members of Congress who voted for the legislation and 25 state attorneys general – including North Carolina’s Josh Stein – say that’s wrong. They’re right. This is meant to help wage-earners live – not provide relief to big financial institutions, commercial lenders and debt collection agencies.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/editorial-federal-stimulus-aim-is-to-help-the-needy-not-enrich-the-...