Mecklenburg County is partnering with MAKO Medical, a health care diagnostic laboratory, to open three new COVID-19 testing sites in Mecklenburg County.
Those masks are coming from the country’s strategic stockpile, and already some counties in North Carolina like Wake and Forsyth have started distributing them.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control responded to what it called “issues with multiple COVID-19 testing vendors and reporting facilities for failures to process tests and report results and case counts.”
The changes come during a school year when thousands of teachers and students across the state have been removed from the classroom because of COVID-19 cases and/or exposures.
In the early stages of the COVID-19 vaccine being administered, there was little to no research about the effects the vaccine would have on pregnant women, or those who were planning a pregnancy and those who recently had a baby and might be breastfeeding. Now, research shows that getting the vaccine is a safe bet for soon-to-be or new mothers.
Before a solution was reached, the situation was reminiscent of the Tent City crisis a year ago when egos got in the way of transporting people in need from a dangerous situation.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on Sunday said the new guidelines are for teachers and other school staff that have been exposed to COVID-19 but are not showing symptoms during a “crisis staffing condition.”
Although a precise count of the number of employees who are out sick or quarantining is hard to come by, about 5 million Americans could be isolating due to COVID-19 at the peak of Omicron.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, also added to calls this week, saying the current policy is “outdated” and that it “does not reflect the state of the science, and continues to unfairly stigmatize one segment of society.”
The pill, manufactured by Merck and called “Molnupiravir,” was shown in clinical trials to reduce COVID-19 patients’ chance of hospitalization and death by 30 percent.
Shon Hagwood, senior pastor at First Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, announced Thursday that his congregation would no longer be gathering in-person for worship services during the month of January.
Teachers, like Carey, are looking to the district to provide N95 masks in the classroom, instead of the disposable ones they are sometimes getting now.
