Benchmarks' Friday Written Update
August 7, 2020
NC Cases: 129,743
Cases Hospitalized: 1,144
NC Deaths: 2,050
Coronavirus Restrictions
LYNN BONNER, DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN, AND STEVE WISEMAN, THE NEWS & OBSERVER, 8/05/20
Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that Phase Two of coronavirus restrictions will be extended until at least Sept. 11, keeping them in place through the Labor Day weekend. His announcement comes as Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the state's Department of Health and Human Services, said the four major metrics the state uses to analyze the virus's spread have stabilized. Cooper said that's not good enough to safely reduce any more restrictions. "As I said last week," Cooper said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference, "stable is good, but decreasing is better. And while we are seeing stabilization of our numbers, that doesn't mean we can let up. You only have to look at hospitals in other states that have been overwhelmed when reopening occurred too fast."
This is the third time Cooper has decided to keep restrictions that limit the size of gatherings indoors and outdoors in retail stores, restaurants and other businesses. The restrictions also keep bars, gyms, entertainment venues and some other establishments closed in the pandemic. The state has been in Phase Two of COVID-19 restrictions on business and leisure activity since May 22. Restaurant dining rooms are allowed to have 50% occupancy, as are personal care businesses such as barbershops, salons and tattoo parlors.
The decision comes as students in public schools prepare to begin school later this month, many with only virtual classes. "The opening of schools and colleges is an important one - education must go on, even in a pandemic," Cooper said. "In-person learning has benefits. But it means challenges for our state, especially as our higher education campuses draw students from around the country and the world." The school openings play a role in the decision to extend this phase for five weeks, rather than a shorter time frame. Cooper has delayed further loosening restrictions, pointing to metrics such as raising coronavirus case rates and increased COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Average daily case growth has declined in the last week. But Cooper last week said the rate was still too high when he mandated a statewide ban on alcohol sales after 11 p.m. at restaurants and other businesses with on-site consumption in an effort to cut the growth in cases. This week, the state DHHS has counted more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in the state since the pandemic reached North Carolina in early March. "Every single one of them represents a family in mourning and a community grieving their loss," Cooper said Wednesday. "They are more than numbers on a chart - they are North Carolinians who are missed dearly." Republicans in the legislature have criticized the reopening as too slow. Cooper has vetoed bills that would have reopened bars, gyms, bowling alleys, amusement parks and other venues.
COVID-19 Benefits
LYNN BONNER, THE NEWS & OBSERVER, 7/31/20
North Carolina plans to offer financial support to some people in COVID-19 isolation, offering help that will include partial replacement of lost wages. To qualify, people must have been told by a medical professional to isolate and they must sign a form that they will comply with the restrictions. Gov. Roy Cooper's office is set to announce a $17 million program that will cover 20 counties, including Durham, Johnston, Chatham and Mecklenburg. The program is intended to ease financial burdens some people face when they are told to isolate or self-quarantine to prevent spreading the coronavirus.
The benefits will include a one-time wage replacement set at $400 per person, or $800 if the person in isolation has a dependent. The program will also include food or home-delivery of groceries, transportation, medicine delivery and COVID-related supplies such as masks and cleaning agents.
Counties from all over the state were chosen based on their high per-capita case rates, said Zack Wortman, chief operating officer for Human Services at DHHS, in an interview. Mecklenburg County has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the state with 20,502 cases. Durham has 5,761 cases, as of Friday. The state Department of Health and Human Services will look for regional organizations to run the program, which is expected to start in September. "Quarantine is a critical part of slowing the spread of COVID-19, but we can't ignore the strain it puts on people's everyday lives," Cooper said in a prepared statement. "This program will ease the burden of isolation for North Carolinians in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by this virus."
Federal CARES Act money will pay for the program. The program will run until the end of the year, the deadline for spending the money, or until the $17 million runs out, Wortman said. Other counties included in the program are Granville, Vance, Robeson, Columbus, Bladen, Sampson, Duplin, Wayne, Wilson, Greene, Lee, Rowan, Stanly, Montgomery, Randolph and Gaston.
Eviction Moratorium
Eddie Garcia, WFDD RADIO, 8/03/20
The CARES Act moratorium on evictions for federally-backed housing has now expired. Local public housing officials say they're working with concerned residents. Evictions had been put on hold at the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem, or HAWS, since early in the pandemic. But notices have continued to go out to keep residents informed of their balances. HAWS says it also recently distributed pamphlets notifying individuals of the expiration, and a new 6-month repayment option. Tenants are now being given 30-day notices for non-payment, rather than the typical 14 days.
Kevin Cheshire is the executive director of HAWS. "I would say that our tenant rent revenue certainly has been negatively affected, but has not been as egregiously affected as I would have projected earlier on in this pandemic cycle," says Cheshire. Cheshire says that roughly 35 families have reported a reduction of income, which is less than he estimated. He also points out that unemployment benefits and stimulus money do not count towards reportable income, so rent obligations have not been affected.
Wake Help
ANNA JOHNSON, THE NEWS & OBSERVER, 8/03/20
Wake County announced a $5 million fund Monday to help thousands of families who are late on their utility bills because of COVID-19. The new program, WakeHELPS, will give county households up to $500 to help pay their overdue bills. The $5 million - from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) - should be able to help nearly 10,000 families, officials said. "With protections against utility shutoffs beginning to expire, Wake County is stepping up to help families who can't make ends meet during this pandemic," said Greg Ford, chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. Applicants must "have suffered financially from COVID-19," be Wake County residents and be able to submit their unpaid utility bills. They also must meet federal income limits, for example, $39,540 for one person and $56,460 for a family of four.
Gov. Roy Cooper issued executive orders in late March that barred utility companies from charging late fees and cutting services to people who haven't paid their power or water bills because of the coronavirus. Those provisions ended in July. More than 1.45 million utility accounts in North Carolina have been unpaid during the pandemic, The News & Observer reported in mid-July. More than 23,000 people are behind on their water bills in Raleigh, The N&O reported.
Latino Health
AARON SÁNCHEZ-GUERRA, THE NEWS & OBSERVER, 8/04/20
With North Carolina Latinos bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is investing $130,000 in one of the Triangle's main Latino advocacy organizations. Blue Cross NC told The News & Observer this week that they're investing in nonprofit El Centro Hispano, as part of a statewide philanthropic effort to support vulnerable populations. Of the roughly 65,000 COVID-19 cases for which ethnicity has been recorded in the state, Latinos, primarily immigrant essential workers, make up nearly half - 42%.
"This disproportion is not right, so the company wants to do something about it," said Gustavo Bernal, who is in charge of multicultural marketing and sponsorship for Blue Cross NC. El Centro Hispano, established in Durham in 1997, has worked at the forefront to provide health education in Spanish through health education staff, distributing PPE and other direct assistance for Latino North Carolinians.
White House officials signal coronavirus relief negotiations will cease if an agreement is not reached by Friday
ABC News
"I think at this point we're either going to get serious about negotiating and get an agreement in principle," Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters Wednesday. "I've become extremely doubtful that we'll be able to make a deal if it goes well beyond Friday."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer snapped back at Meadows' remark, following another day of negotiations between the parties, saying that Democrats would not be the ones to leave negotiations.
"We are not walking away," Schumer said. "We will stay here as long as it takes to get an agreement and we urge Mr. Meadows to sit down and continue to work with us and to do it as long as it takes."
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tried to walked back the deadline set by Meadows as he departed the Capitol following negotiations on Wednesday adding that he does not "want to describe this an an end of the week deadline," but Meadows held firm.
He said Friday is not necessarily a "drop date" but then added, "my optimism continues to diminish the closer we get to Friday and certainly falls off the cliff exponentially after Friday."
Meadows continued to hold out the possibility of executive actions by President Donald Trump on student loans, unemployment insurance and evictions but declined to say what the timeline for action would be.
"We've got those proposals before him and he'll make decisions on those in the coming days," Meadows said.
At a White House press conference Wednesday, Trump also highlighted some of those possibilities.
"My administration is exploring executive actions to provide protections against eviction," he said. "As well as additional relief to those who are unemployed as a result of the virus. Very importantly, I am also looking at a term-limited suspension of the payroll tax."
He also complained about an effort by Democrats to help state and local governments.
"The Democrats are primarily interested in a $1 trillion bailout of the poorly run states," Trump said. "We have some states and cities -- you know them all -- we don't have to go through names, but they've been very poorly run over the years, and we can't go along with the bailout money. We're not going to go along with that, especially since it's not COVID related."
Entering negotiations on Wednesday, Schumer was asked about the possibility of a deal being reached by Friday and said that there are still divides between the parties.
"Well, we're working very hard but we got a lot of issues," Schumer said. "We see the problem as bigger, bolder and requiring more action than they do."
Multiple senators leaving the GOP conference policy lunch Wednesday said that Meadows had conveyed that Friday was a firm stopping point.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said that the negotiators relayed a similar message to the full GOP conference during their policy lunch.
"If there is not a deal by Friday, there won't be a deal," Blunt said. "At some point you have to set a deadline or just continue this Kabuki dance every day and nobody wants to."
This follows Tuesday's announcement that the negotiators had agreed to reach an agreement, if one is possible, by Friday.
But that seems to be about where agreement between Meadows, Mnuchin, Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stops.
Senators who met with administration officials said the negotiations on Wednesday seemed almost identical to days prior.
"I still basically heard the same thing," Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said. "There's a wide gulf between White House negotiators and Democrats."
The Senate is approaching what would be the start of its August recess at the end of the week.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that the Senate will delay its recess and remain in session next week, though it is not clear what sort of action would take place during that time if negotiations on a package break down.
As tensions begin to boil over, Republicans are expected to begin offering piecemeal portions of their coronavirus relief proposal, the HEALS act, on the Senate floor.
Up first will likely be an effort to extend the paycheck protection program, whose application window closes at the end of the week.
Republicans have already attempted an extension of the unemployment benefits on the Senate floor -- an effort which was quashed by Democrats.
Democrats have flatly rejected the idea of a piecemeal series of bills. They've argued that a "big," "bold" and "comprehensive" bill is necessary to combat the ongoing health and economic crisis.
The Democratic proposal, which has already passed the House of Representatives, costs nearly $3 trillion. The Republican proposal is around $1 trillion.
