Orange County COVID-19 Updates: Special Issue 
April, 24 2020

Orange County Health Department Press Release

MEDIA RELEASE ­
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     
Contact: Kristin Prelipp, Communications Manager and Public Information Officer
kprelipp@orangecountync.gov or 919-245-2462
LINK TO MEDIA RELEASE

Orange County’s Stay at Home Order Extended through May 8^th, 2020

 
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. April 23, 2020 ? Orange County’s stay-at-home order will be extended through May 8, Orange County Board of Commissioners Chair Penny Rich announced Thursday, April 23.

Rich, in consultation with Mayors Pam Hemminger of Chapel Hill, Lydia Lavelle of Carrboro and Jenn Weaver of Hillsborough, extended the order to help the county battle the spread of COVID-19. The order was set to expire April 30.

“We are monitoring the stats for Orange County and the state daily, and when the data indicates it is safe for us to ease these restrictions, we will do so,” Rich said.

Earlier today, Gov. Roy Cooper also extended North Carolina’s order through May 8.  

Understanding the Outbreak
In general, viruses work by replicating and jumping to new hosts, in this case humans. A virus, such as COVID-19, continues to replicate and spread until it runs out of hosts. The replication rate varies for viruses. In the case of COVID-19 the replication rate is two to three. This means, if uninterrupted, each infected person can infect two to three other people. In turn, those two to three people will infect four to nine more people. This will continue into an exponential spread of cases. We’ve already seen this happen in many areas of the world.

This is why the stay at home orders are so important. They are typically in place for 30 days because that it is approximately two isolation periods of 14 days, back to back. In an April 23^rd press conference, Governor Roy Cooper said that there are three metrics that will help us to understand when we can ease restrictions-- testing, contact tracing and trends. 

Increased testing: By working with private and public partners to increase testing capacity, expand testing sites and addressing supply challenges, we will have a more complete picture of the outbreak of COVID-19.

Tracing: The state and local health departments will ramp up staffing and technology to determine who has been exposed when someone tests positive.

Trends: By analyzing new data, including the number of new cases, hospitalizations, deaths, protective equipment, supplies, hospital capacity and more we will know when to dial up or down social distancing.
 
Reliable Information
The Orange County Health Department is now providing a weekly summary of cases on Fridays, at 9 a.m. The state updates its COVID-19 case count dashboard daily at 11 a.m.
 
For the latest information and guidance relating to Orange County’s COVID-19 response:

• Visit www.orangecountync.gov/coronavirus.
• Receive daily text updates on the crisis by texting 888-777 with OCNCHEALTH for English speakers and OCNCSALUD for Spanish speakers.
• Sign up for a twice weekly e-newsletter about the COVID-19 response via the county website.
• Follow the Orange County Health Department on Facebook and Twitter.  

Announcement: 

NCDHHS to Provide Additional Food Benefits for More than 800,000 Children Impacted by COVID-19 

RALEIGH: ?Governor Roy Cooper announced today that North Carolina has been approved for the new Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program, to help families purchase food for children impacted by school closings due to COVID-19. NCDHHS is working to operationalize the program and families will begin to receive this benefit in coming weeks.

“So many families are in need, especially with so many out of work right now. This approval helps people get assistance faster to feed their families,” said Governor Cooper.

The program provides a benefit on an EBT card to North Carolina families whose children are eligible for free and reduced lunch at school. Families will receive $250 in P-EBT benefits per child, provided in two installments, with the possibility of an additional benefit if North Carolina schools are closed beyond May 15. Families will be able to use the P-EBT?benefit?to purchase food items at EBT authorized retailers, including most major grocery stores. 

Families will not need to apply for the P-EBT program. P-EBT eligible families already receiving Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) benefits will receive an additional benefit on their existing EBT card. P-EBT eligible families not already enrolled in FNS will be mailed a new EBT card in the next few weeks. Families who receive a new EBT card will receive a letter from DHHS in the mail explaining how to activate and use their card.

“As our schools closed, many families across the state worried about where their next meals would come from—and we knew we had to take action,” said NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen, M.D. “The P-EBT program will provide extra help buying groceries for the families of the more than 800,000 children who normally receive free and reduced lunch at school.”

North Carolina is one of the first four states to receive federal approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide P-EBT benefits, which are entirely federally funded. 

The new P-EBT program is in addition to other services families may be participating in. As announced previously on March 30, 2020, all families that receive Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) will receive the maximum amount allowed for March and April 2020 for their household size. Families are encouraged to continue utilizing feeding programs at local school and community meal sites for free, nutritious meals for children.

Visit www.LunchApplication.com to apply online. CHCCS students can print and fill out the form here. Orange County families use the online application or go here.

Contact: 919-814-2100 or govpress@nc.gov.

Spanish translation of document is linked here.

Contact Information

For general questions (not urgent) about 2019 Novel Coronavirus, contact NCDHHS at: ncresponse@dhhs.nc.gov or 1-866-462-3821 to address general questions about coronavirus from the public.

If you are an individual or a medical practice with questions about COVID-19, call the Orange County Health Department at (919) 245-6111. During business hours (8:30a.m. to 5 p.m.) 

Contact Kristin Prelipp, the Orange County Health Department’s Public Information Officer at: kprelipp@orangecountync.gov or 919-245-2462

Orange County Health Department:
Web: www.orangecountync.gov/coronavirus
Phone: 919-245-2400
Email: covid19@orangecountync.gov
Facebook: Orange County Health Department
Instagram: OrangeHealthNC
Twitter: Orange Health NC
Youtube: OCHDNC