WFMY News 2 is providing daily coronavirus updates with the latest information from emergency leaders, the state's task force, health departments, universities, school districts, and a lot more.
Check It Out: Latest Coronavirus News
FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020
10: 30 p.m. - Surry County Health and Nutrition Center, in partnership with Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital of Elkin (HCMH) and Northern Regional Hospital (NRH) of Mount Airy, to offer mass testing for COVID-19 on Monday, May 11, 2020.
This event will be a collaborative effort to increase access to COVID-19 testing within our county and gain a better understanding of how this pandemic is affecting our communities.
Testing will take place at three Surry County locations on Monday from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm. Tests are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Test seekers may receive a COVID-19 test with or without symptoms. There are a limited number of free tests available for qualifying Surry County residents. For those patients with insurance, please bring a current insurance card, photo identification, and a valid phone number. It is anticipated the results will be available for those tested by Friday, May 15. It is imperative for those tested to understand that they must self-isolate in their homes until they receive their test results.
Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy, will host their drive-thru testing in the NRH parking lot located at the corner of S. South and Haymore Streets. Patients should follow directional signage and enter from Haymore Street. For more details visit choosenorthern.org/coronavirus.
Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital will host two drive-thru testing sites, one at their main campus in Elkin and a second at Hugh Chatham Express Care in Dobson. To enter the testing site on the hospital campus in Elkin, please enter on the southern entrance of Parkwood Drive directly across from Pruitt Health. The Dobson testing site will be in the parking lot where the Hugh Chatham Express Care is located, on 911 East Atkins Street. Patients visiting either of these locations should follow directional signage for entrance. Additional information will be available on the HCMH Facebook page.
Surry County Health Director, Samantha Ange expressed, “We are grateful to offer COVID-19 testing to our citizens in hopes of keeping Surry County residents safe and healthy. This is a tremendous opportunity for our area healthcare facilities to collaborate for the good of our communities.”
Ange continued, “Our community cannot effectively fight COVID-19 without the implementation of widespread testing measures. The symptoms of COVID-19 can be confusing and vary from person to person, making it difficult to accurately identify suspected cases. It is critical we find those people who may be spreading the virus without showing symptoms. Controlling the spread of the virus demands we identify the infected and isolate until they can no longer spread the disease.”
If you have further questions about this event, please contact Surry County Health and Nutrition Center at (336) 401-8400. For more general information about COVID-19, please dial 2-1-1 (or 888-892-1162), and to stay up to date on COVID-19 in North Carolina, visit ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus or text COVIDNC to 898211.
7:35 p.m. - High Point City Lake Pool will remain closed for the summer.
With the uncertainty of when public pools will be allowed to open and what restrictions we will be operating under, the High Point Parks & Recreation Department has decided not to open High Point City Lake Pool this summer
The openings of Washington Terrace pool and the Southside Splash Pad, originally scheduled for Saturday, May 23, 2020 have been delayed.
5:35 p.m. - Coronavirus case update for nursing homes, rehab facilities released by NCDHHS.
Guilford County:
Camden Health & Rehab
- 39 total cases
- 25 residents
- 14 staff
- 4 deaths
- Tuesday's numbers: 39 total, 25 residents, 14 staff, 0 deaths
- 4 people have died
Clapps Nursing Home
- 43 total
- 32 residents
- 11 staff
- 3 deaths
- Tuesday's numbers: 43 total, 32 residents 11 staff, 3 deaths
Malachi House II
- 3 total cases
- 3 residents
- 0 staff
- 0 deaths
Forsyth County:
Oak Forest Health and Rehabilitation
- 2 total
- 1 resident
- 1 staff
- 0 deaths
Alamance County:
White Oak Manor (in Burlington)
- 35 total cases
- 22 residents
- 13 staff
- 0 deaths
- Tuesday's numbers: 25 total cases, 0 deaths
- 10 new cases
Davidson County
Alston Brook
- 56 total cases
- 41 residents
- 15 staff
- 8 deaths
Randolph County:
Universal Healthcare Ramseur
- 8 total cases
- 3 residents
- 5 staff
- 0 deaths
- Tuesday's numbers: 7 total, 3 residents, 4 staff, 0 deaths
- 1 new case today
5:32 p.m. - Surry County now has 37 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1 COVID-19 related death.
4:30 p.m. - Firehouse Subs donates 16 pickle buckets to be filled with hand sanitizer and will help first responders.
Firehouse Subs Franchisees Keith Hamm and Srila Surapaneni donated 16 pickle buckets to Joe Tappe and Broad Branch Distillery in Winston-Salem to fill with hand sanitizer. Hamm owns Firehouse Subs Kernersville and Surapaneni owns the Firehouse Subs restaurants in High Point and Winston-Salem.
3:56 p.m. - Tanger Outlets update about reopening.
Uniform Destination is the only store open but at 5pm when non-essentials can, Pro Image is planning on opening. Our operating hours for the time moving forward will be 11am until 7pm daily. As of tomorrow, we should have around ten more stores open but each store corporately determines when they will open, so some will open sooner than others. As we find out opening, we will post them to a scroll bar on our website: www.tangeroutlets.com/mebane. Customers should check that and call any individual store that are specifically wanting to visit to ensure their open before coming.
3:25 p.m. - All Davidson County Public Library branches will resume no-contact curbside pickup service and reopen book drops starting at 9 a.m. Monday, May 11.
During phase one, all Davidson County Public Library branches will follow the same hours of operation: 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The Lexington Public Library is undergoing a renovation. Holds for patrons using that location will be available across the parking lot in the Library Annex.
3 p.m. - Guilford County Schools Television (GCSTV) has begun airing math video lessons.
Video lessons start at 8 a.m. with a kindergarten lesson. The short video lessons will continue with a new lesson for each grade level every hour throughout the day, ending with Math III lessons at 7 p.m. To see the full schedule of lessons, click here.
New lessons will come out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with repeats on Wednesdays and Fridays. These videos should act as another resource to support students in math, and the district is still encouraging students and families to continue online learning with their teachers using Canvas.
You can find GCSTV on Spectrum Cable digital channel 74.1, at AT&T U-Verse channel 99 or on YouTube at GCSchoolsNC.
2:30 p.m. - Officials at Winston-Salem Rescue Mission will reopen their Rescue Mission Thrift Store, 704 Oak Street NW, Monday, May 11.
To ensure the safety of shoppers and staff, the following policies are in effect:
- Shortened hours (M-F, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-1 p.m.)
- Daily sanitizing of merchandise and facilities
- Store personnel will wear masks
- Though not required, we are requesting shoppers wear masks if they have them
- Social distancing: 20 shoppers will be allowed into the 21,000-square-foot store at a time
2 p.m. - Gov. Cooper held a press briefing with members of the coronavirus task force.
- Gov. Cooper began his press conference by remembering some of the North Carolinians lost to COVID-19. One of them was a Montgomery County School Resource Officer known as "Officer Bud." He died on March 31 at the age of 43. His motto was "anything for the kids."
- Gov. Cooper encouraged people to be smart for the Mother's Day holiday, and make sure you aren't putting any loved ones at risk.
- NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said we rank 15th in the nation for total tests completed, and we've hit our goal of how many tests are being completed per week.
- Cohen said Walmart and Harris Teeter will open test sites in several places across the state, including Guilford County.
- Cohen explained the reason certain businesses can reopen in Phase 1 is because they are low-risk activities where people are moving around, and not sitting or standing in one spot for longer than 10 minutes.
Noon - Grandfather Mountain announced it will open to visitors in limited capacity on May 15. Tickets will be sold only online.
11:45 a.m. - Pride Winston-Salem announced the cancellation of its fall Pride Festival and Parade scheduled for October 17, 2020. Last week, Greensboro Pride announced the cancellation of its parade in June and the festival in October.
11 a.m. - There were more than 400 new cases of coronavirus in the state since yesterday and 20 more people died. North Carolina now has a total of 13,868 coronavirus cases and 527 deaths statewide, according to the NCDHHS. Three more people died in Guilford County.
Friday news to note:
- North Carolina will enter Phase 1 of its reopening plan at 5 p.m. Friday. Most retailers like malls, boutiques, bookstores, and home furnishing stores will be allowed to reopen under this phase. Here's a look at what's reopening under Phase 1. Restaurants and bars won't be able to open until we enter Phase 2 - the earliest that could be is in two more weeks, depending on how the state's coronavirus data looks.
- Gov. Cooper will hold a press briefing at 2 p.m. Friday with other members of the state's coronavirus task force. We will stream it live in this story.
FACTS NOT FEAR
Remember facts, not fear when talking about the coronavirus. You should take the same measures recommended by health leaders to prevent the spread of the flu and other viruses. That means washing your hands, avoiding touching your face, and covering coughs and sneezes.
WHERE YOU GET INFORMATION ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS IS IMPORTANT
It is important to make sure the information you are getting about the coronavirus is coming directly from reliable sources like the CDC and NCDHHS. Be careful not to spread misinformation about coronavirus on social media.
NC CORONAVIRUS HOTLINE
The state also has a special hotline set up where you can call 866-462-3821 for more information on the coronavirus. You can also submit questions online at ncpoisoncontrol.org or select chat to talk with someone about the virus.
You can also text keyword VIRUS to WFMY News 2 at 336-379-5775 to find out more information.
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