COVID-19 Updates: August, 18 2020 |
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Carolina to switch to remote instruction, reduce residential density |
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Message from University News, UNC-Chapel Hill |
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After a spate of COVID-19 infection clusters during the first week of classes, the University will shift all undergraduate instruction to remote learning Wednesday and continue efforts to greatly reduce residence hall occupancy.
“Since launching the Roadmap for Fall 2020, we have emphasized that if we were faced with the need to change plans — take an off-ramp — we would not hesitate to do so, but we have not taken this decision lightly. We have made it in consultation with state and local health officials, Carolina’s infectious disease experts and the UNC System,” wrote Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert A. Blouin in a Monday campus email announcing the changes.
UNC System President Peter Hans said: “There are no easy answers as the nation navigates through the pandemic. At this point we haven’t received any information that would lead to similar modifications at any of our other universities. Whether at Chapel Hill or another institution, students must continue to wear facial coverings and maintain social distancing, as their personal responsibility, particularly in off-campus settings, is critical to the success of this semester and to protect public health.”
Campus Health Services reported a significant rise in positive COVID-19 tests over the past week (Aug. 10-16). Currently, 177 students are in isolation and 349 are in quarantine, both on and off campus.
To mitigate continued community spread within residence halls and contain the virus, the University is working with the UNC System office to identify the most effective way to decrease residential density on campus. Students will have the opportunity to cancel housing requests with no penalty. Residents who have hardships, such as lack of access to reliable internet access, international students or student-athletes will have the option to remain on campus.
The University’s research enterprise will remain unchanged. Courses in the graduate, professional and health affairs schools will continue to be taught as they are or as directed by the schools. Academic advising and academic support services will be available online.
“We understand that these trends aren’t just affecting our campus: They have escalated the concerns of our neighbors, co-workers and friends in and around the Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities. The health and well-being of the good people of our greater Carolina community are just as important to us as that of our students, faculty and staff,” the campus message continued. “As much as we believe we have worked diligently to help create a healthy and safe campus living and learning environment, we believe the current data presents an untenable situation. As we have always said, the health and safety of our campus community are paramount, and we will continue to modify and adapt our plan when necessary.” |
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What Families Can Expect When Schools Reopen |
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The NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has created a document that details what parents and their children can expect as schools reopen across the state.
For more information, please visit the NCDHHS webpage. |
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Governor Cooper Declares
August as Preparedness Month |
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Governor Roy Cooper has declared August as North Carolina Preparedness Month, encouraging individuals, families, schools and businesses to review their emergency plans and update their emergency supply kits.
“Facing a hurricane, a deadly tornado and an earthquake in the same week reminds us that North Carolinians need to be prepared for all kinds of emergencies, especially as we continue fighting COVID-19,” Governor Cooper said.“Be sure to go over your family’s emergency plan and include cloth face masks for each member of your family in your emergency supply kit.”
“Ensuring your family, including the elderly and pets, are prepared to survive for at least three days for any emergency is important,” said North Carolina Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks. “Planning ahead and preparing a kit could save your life and lessen the chances you will need to be rescued or shelter during a storm.”
“It’s critical that everyone knows what to do and where to go when danger threatens,” North Carolina Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry said. “Having an emergency plan and a basic supply kit in place, increases the likelihood you will survive and recover faster.”
This is the time to be sure your family’s emergency plan and emergency kits are updated for COVID-19. Be sure to follow these tips: - If you are ordered to evacuate, plan to stay either with family or friends, or at a hotel if you can afford it. A public shelter should be a last resort during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Check online to be sure you “Know Your Zone” in case of evacuation orders in any of the twenty participating North Carolina coastal counties
- Include items in your emergency kit to help lower your risk during the pandemic including:
- Cloth face masks
- Hand sanitizer
- Disinfecting wipes
For more information on how to ensure your family is disaster ready, go to ReadyNC.org, which features preparedness, evacuation, power outage and shelter information. Also, check to see if your local community offers an emergency alert service for its residents.
Know Your Zone is a tiered evacuation system for coastal residents and visitors that highlights areas most vulnerable to impacts from hurricanes, tropical storms, and other hazards. These predetermined evacuation zones in twenty North Carolina coastal counties simplify and improve evacuations in the event of an approaching tropical system. Visit KnowYourZone.nc.gov for more information. The website is available in Spanish at ConozcaSuZona.nc.gov.
Follow North Carolina Emergency Management on Twitter and Facebook during August for daily tips on how you can be better prepared for emergencies and disasters. |
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In commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, let's remember the battle for equality is FAR from over |
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Aug. 17, 2020, 11:30 AM EDT By Kim Churches |
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Tuesday marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. When the words “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged … on account of sex” were added to the U.S. Constitution on August 18, 1920, it seemed that, at long last, women got what they deserved.But looking back through a century-long lens, this clearly was just another step on a rocky path to equal rights and women’s empowerment — a journey that continues today. After 100 years, the same issues that women were grappling with back then — voting rights, inequality, racism and sexism — are very much behind the social upheaval we’re seeing now.
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The 19th Amendment is often thought of as the one that gave women the right to vote, but the fact is that it did not deliver on that promise.
Though scores of Black activists (formerly enslaved Sojourner Truth, journalist Ida B. Wells and educator Mary Church Terrell, to name a few) all played critical but largely unacknowledged roles in the fight for women’s suffrage, the amendment was far from inclusive. Native Americans and Chinese immigrants were not granted voting rights. Black women were subjected to Jim Crow laws and not fully enfranchised until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed a full 45 years later.
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Even today, barriers persist that keep many Americans from exercising their Constitutional right to vote. Blatant suppression efforts — such as overly strict I.D. laws, voting roll purges, restrictions on mail-in ballots and inconvenient, understaffed and limited polling places — disproportionately impact women, people of color, voters with disabilities, students and older people. |
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When early feminists fought for the franchise, their hope was that it would more fully integrate women into the economic, cultural and political life. “There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers,” activist Susan B. Anthony said decades before the 19th Amendment was ratified. But in hindsight, she and her fellow activists were concerned with the rights of white women, not all women.
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Indeed, progress toward our nation’s goal of full equality has been slow and halting, sometimes moving backward before pushing ahead. We hear a lot about the gains women have made in American politics, but the halls of power remain far from equal: Although women are half the population, the 101 women in House of Representatives are only 23.7 percent of that legislative body. Just slightly over a quarter of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate are held by women. Of the governors of the 50 states, only nine are women — a mere 18 percent. Women of color hold just a fraction of those seats. We’ll need a lot more “Years of the Woman” until we’re fully represented.
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No doubt women have made great progress in the past 100 years, but true equity eludes us. We now comprise nearly half the workforce, yet we’re subject to a pay gap that threatens our economic security from the moment we enter the workforce. Women, disproportionately women of color, hold nearly two-thirds of the country’s low-wage jobs, undervalued labor that is essential to a functioning economy. |
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We’re confronting a workplace that hasn’t adjusted to our presence, one that’s modeled on an outdated notion of how families work and old paradigms that favor men. And we’re still encountering the outright racism and sexism that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez so eloquently called out last month after a fellow legislator referred to her with a vulgar and gendered insult. His dismissive attitude represents an “acceptance of violence and violent language against women [and] an entire structure of power that supports that,” Ocasio-Cortez said, calling for a change to dehumanizing bigotry and misogyny that’s so deeply ingrained in our culture. Her commanding presence on the House floor encapsulated both how far women have come since the 19th Amendment was passed – but also how far we still have to go.
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Change takes time, no matter how urgently we need it or how impatient we are to see it happen. But right now is an opportune moment: With the country reeling from a global pandemic, a controversial presidency and a broad-based movement against 400 years of structural racism, the time feels ripe to push for sweeping changes to the status quo.
And while we might draw inspiration from the determination of the early feminists, we must broaden the goals and acknowledge that there will be no justice, equity or equality until everyone has access to the same basic civil rights.
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Specifically, we need to double down on our efforts to expand access to the polls, including enacting the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020, which would enable more citizens to have their voices heard.
We must work to elect candidates who are committed to racial justice, gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
We must advocate for laws to close the wage gap and the wealth gap, modernize the workplace, provide paid sick and care giving leave, ease the burden of student debt and open pathways to success for all Americans, regardless of race, gender, ability or immigration status. |
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But policies and programs are not enough: As individuals, we must listen, learn and examine our own attitudes and biases to continuously improve. Human behavioral change must match whatever policies and practices we put in place. That’s the only way to keep things moving forward, rapidly forward.
If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it has shown us we can make dramatic changes when it’s necessary. And, just as it was 100 years ago, social change is necessary. So let’s hold off on a celebration of an incomplete amendment, and instead use this anniversary to commit ourselves to doing the unfinished work of achieving equal rights for all. |
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North Carolina COVID-19 Cases
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reports 146,779 COVID-19 cases, 2,396 deaths, and 1,026 hospitalizations, as of August 18, 2020. For more information regarding live updates (NCDHHS updates the site every day at noon), please visit the NCDHHS website.
Orange County Health Department also has a COVID-19 dashboard webpage, with information on COVID-19 data in the county. The dashboard will be updated every Tuesday and Thursday.
There are currently 1,514 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Orange County, and 48 deaths.
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COVID-19 Community Resources
For more information on COVID-19 community resources in the county, please visit our webpage. Resources on specific topic areas, such as food access, education, housing, and others, are all accessible on our website, or at the links below. |
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