NC coronavirus update Dec 28: North Carolina opens 3 new free COVID 19 test sites in Raleigh

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) – Here are the latest updates on COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus in North Carolina.

Do you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine? Send them to us here

HEADLINES Tuesday morning
Three new free COVID-19 testing sites have opened in Raleigh.

Marsh Creek Park, Roberts Park, and Method Community Park are the three new locations joining Departure Drive Building, Radeas Labs, and Swinburne Parking Lot as drive-thru test sites.

Click here for more information on each location.

Health officials recommend that anyone returning from vacation trips or gatherings get tested three to five days after your last contact with people outside of your bubble.

The tests at these drive-thru locations are completely free and usually return results within 24-48 hours.

Meanwhile, another COVID-19 vaccine candidate is moving forward. Novavax is now the fifth company to start a large-scale trial in the US.

That vaccine is being produced on a large scale in Morrisville at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. Fujifilm added 85 new jobs in Morrisville this year, and the company said it plans to expand again in 2021.

The vaccines already approved by the FDA are now being distributed to nursing homes and long-term care facilities in our state.

CVS and Walgreens began vaccinating residents and employees of those facilities on Monday.

Meanwhile, North Carolina is reporting more COVID-19 patients in hospitals than ever before: 3,192. That number includes a record 733 adults in intensive care.

Despite the push to increase the number of tests performed, the positive rate continues to rise – to 14.7%, which is much higher than the state’s target of less than 5%.

The new COVID-19 statistics will be released around noon

MONDAY
5:00 pm
Stadium capacity will be adjusted to 1,500 for Carolina Panthers’ last home game against the New Orleans Saints on January 3, 2021, the team announced Monday.

PSL owners who have purchased a ticket for the game have the option to receive a refund or apply payment to their invoice for 2021. An automatic refund of all ticket purchases for one game through Ticketmaster will be processed within 30 days. applied to the same payment method used to purchase tickets. Tickets purchased through other channels are subject to their respective policies.

4:40 PM
Residents and executives in nursing homes and long-term care facilities throughout North Carolina began receiving the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

The CVS and Walgreens pharmacies administer the vaccines but, for privacy reasons, do not identify the specific locations that will receive the first injections.

According to CVS, nearly 128,000 people will be vaccinated in nearly 900 locations across the state over the next three months.

4:13 PM
Congressman GK Butterfield said he had received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The North Carolina Democrat tweeted a photo of himself, saying that “I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine according to the CDC’s recommendations and the directions from the Office of Attending Physician. virus, we must continue with science-based safety measures: Practice social distancing. Wear a mask. “

3:41 PM
Wake County offers six locations for free COVID-19 testing this week and in 2021, with several locations open on New Years Day and park locations with Sunday hours.

No fees, no appointment required, no insurance required, and no ID required. Walk-ups are welcome.

The following locations are open every week from Monday to Saturday, including testing on Friday, January 1:

• Swinburne Parking Lot Drive-Thru Testing, 2845 Kidd Road, Raleigh, 27610, 7am to 7pm

• Departure Drive Building Drive-thru Testing, 5809 Departure Drive, Raleigh 27616, 8:00 am to 6:30 pm (8:00 am to 12:30 pm on Saturdays)

• Radeas Labs Drive-thru Testing, 907 Gateway Commons Circle, Wake Forest 27587, 7am to 2pm

Starting Tuesday, Wake County is offering free testing in three parks in the city of Raleigh:

• Roberts Park, 1300 E. Martin St., Raleigh, 27610

• Marsh Creek Park, 3050 N. New Hope Road, Raleigh, 27604

• Method Community Park, 514 Method Road, Raleigh, 27607

Testing at all park locations is as follows:

• Tuesday 11 am-4pm

• Wednesday and Thursday from 8.30am to 4pm

• Friday-Sunday, January 1-3 NO TESTS

• Monday January 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Tuesday – Saturday 5 to 9 January, 8.30 am – 4 pm

• Sunday January 10 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Look here for the latest test times and locations.

2:53 PM
The Lee County Government Health Department confirms 218 new cases of COVID-19 since last Monday, for a total of 3,401 cases of COVID-19.

1:14 PM
The Halifax County Health Department is reporting a new death and 145 new cases of COVID-19.

There were 45 deaths and 2628 positive COVID 19 cases across the province.

11:50 am
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 3,888 new COVID-19 cases Monday – the second day of daily increases below 4,000. Those numbers are abnormally low, but the number of tests completed in the past two days is also abnormally low. This is probably due to lower processing volumes during the holidays.

Hospital admissions, on the other hand, hit a new record Monday at 3,192.

In the past 24 hours, 366 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals. In the same time frame, 286 suspected patients were admitted.

The number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU was also a record high on Monday at 733. Last Monday, there were 686 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

84 percent of hospital patients are over 50 years old. However, the majority of cases (40 percent) are in the 25 to 49 age group.

6:20 am
The Transportation Security Administration announced that it screened more than 1 million people the day after Christmas.

The day after Christmas was the second most traveled day since the start of the pandemic. The most-traveled day occurred the day before Christmas, when TSA screened 1,191,123 people.

The daily figures this holiday season are about half of the number of travelers who were screened on the same day in 2019.

The TSA numbers come because the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is urging Americans to stay home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the cases continue to increase after Thanksgiving-related travel, health experts warn that a similar rise is likely to occur within a few weeks due to the travel related to the end of the year holidays.

Monday morning Headlines
Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities in North Carolina will receive the COVID-19 vaccine Monday.

CVS and Walgreens organize the vaccinations, but due to privacy concerns, they do not identify the specific locations where the injections will be received first.

We know that as of Monday, CFS is administering the vaccines at nearly 900 facilities in North Carolina, and more than 40,000 nationwide. The group expects to vaccinate as many as 4 million residents and employees.

CVS said it will start offering the vaccine to the general public sometime next year.

Meanwhile, North Carolina’s COVID-19 statistics remain at or near record levels.

To date, more than half a million people have tested positive for the virus in North Carolina, with at least 6,549 people dead from it. Updated songs will be released around noon.