RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — As coronavirus trends continue to worsen, North Carolina’s top public health official reiterated Thursday the same messages of mask wearing, hand washing and physical distancing that have been promoted for months with mixed success.
“If we were all to follow the things that are currently in place right now, I don’t think we needed to do more (tightening of restrictions),” said Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, during a Thursday news conference. “But we know that that is hard. We know that we are asking a lot of folks, and it may be possible that we need to go backwards.”
North Carolina on Thursday reported its highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with more than 5,600 people testing positive for the coronavirus. The percentage of tests coming back positive also has risen sharply in
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas surpassed 9,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients Tuesday for the first time since a deadly summer outbreak as the pandemic’s spread threatened the Big Bend region near the desert artist hub of Marfa, where tourists continued visiting and officials urged people to stay home.
The rising number of cases near the remote West Texas border is but another example of how the virus is now spreading into places that ducked previous surges but are now ensnared by its long-reaching tentacles and confronted with its wide-ranging challenges.
Texas reported more than 15,000 new cases Tuesday, smashing the previous single-day record. State health officials attributed at least some of the spike to a lag in reporting over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but doctors and local leaders still say they’re trending in the wrong direction.
Marfa is located about 200 miles (321.87 kilometers) down the border from El Paso,
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The number of hospitalizations in Oklahoma due to the coronavirus surpassed 1,400 on Wednesday for a new daily record and a surge in virus cases in the state is linked to Halloween events, according to a report by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
The state did not restrict trick-or-treating by children on Halloween and has not limited social gatherings.
“Increases from the past two weeks correlate with Halloween and related activities,” according to the task force report, which said Oklahoma remains in the red zone for cases with more than 101 per 100,000 residents.
The task force report recommended limiting restaurants to 25% capacity, curtailing the hours bars are open and encouraging the wearing of masks in public.
“The spread in Oklahoma is exponential and unyielding, with hospitalizations increasing week over week and reported limited bed availability,” according the the task force report released Wednesday
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