NC coronavirus update on December 28: North Carolina opens three 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.

Have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine? Send them to us here

TUESDAY MORNING
Three new free COVID-19 test sites are open in Raleigh.

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

Click here for more information about each location.

Health officials suggest that anyone returning from travel or vacation get tested three to five days after their last contact with people outside their bubble.

Testing at these drive-thru locations is completely free and usually returns results within 24-48 hours.

Meanwhile, another vaccine candidate COVID-19 is advancing. Novavax is now the fifth company to launch a large-scale test in the United States.

This vaccine is being mass produced in Morrisville at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. Fujifilm created 85 new jobs in Morrisville this year, and the company said it plans to expand again in 2021.

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

CVS and Walgreens started vaccinating residents and staff at these facilities on Monday.

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

Despite the impulse to increase the number of tests performed, the positivity rate continues to rise – reaching 14.7%, well above the state goal of less than 5%.

New COVID-19 metrics are set to be released around 12pm.

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

PSL owners who purchased a game ticket have the option of receiving a refund or applying payment to their 2021 invoice. An automatic refund of all ticket purchases for a single game by Ticketmaster will be applied to the same payment method used to buy tickets in 30 days. Tickets purchased on other channels are subject to their respective policies.

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

CVS and Walgreens pharmacies are administering the vaccines, but for privacy reasons they are not identifying the specific locations that received the first vaccines.

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

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

The North Carolina Democrat tweeted a photo of himself and said that “following the CDC’s recommendations and the Office of Attending Physician’s guidelines, I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Although this is a critical step in eliminating the virus, we must continue science-based security measures: Practice social detachment. Wear a mask. “

15:41
Wake County is providing six free COVID-19 test sites this week and in 2021, with several locations open on New Year’s Day and park locations offering Sunday hours.

There is no cost, no consultation, no insurance required and no identification required. Visitors are welcome.

The following locations will be open Monday through Saturday each week, including tests on Friday, the January 1 holiday:

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

• Drive-thru test of the starting building, 5809 Departure Drive, Raleigh 27616, 8 am to 6:30 pm (8 am to 12:30 pm on Saturdays)

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

Starting on Tuesday, Wake County will offer free trials at 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

The test at all locations in the park is as follows:

• Tuesday from 11am to 4pm

• Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 am to 4 pm

• Friday to Sunday, January 1-3, WITHOUT TEST

• Monday, January 4, from 11 am to 4 pm

• Tuesday to Saturday, January 5 to 9, from 8:30 am to 4 pm

• Sunday, January 10, from 11 am to 4 pm

For the latest test times and locations, check here.

14h53
The Lee County Government Health Department has confirmed 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 Department of Health reports a new death and 145 new cases of COVID-19.

Throughout the municipality there have already been 45 deaths and 2,628 positive cases in the total of COVID 19.

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

Hospitalizations, on the other hand, broke a new record on Monday with 3,192.

366 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the past 24 hours. 286 suspected patients were admitted in the same period.

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

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

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

The day after Christmas was the second most traveled day since the pandemic began. The busiest day happened on Christmas Eve, when the TSA tracked 1,191,123 people.

The daily figures for this holiday season are about half the number of travelers selected on the same day in 2019.

TSA figures come at a time when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention urges Americans to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As cases continue to rise after Thanksgiving-related travel, health experts warn that a similar increase is likely to occur in a few weeks because of holiday-related travel.

Monday morning headlines
North Carolina residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities will begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

CVS and Walgreens are organizing the vaccines, but due to privacy concerns, they are not identifying the specific locations that will receive the vaccines first.

We know that CVS is administering vaccines at nearly 900 facilities in North Carolina and at more than 40,000 across the country, starting on Monday. The group hopes to vaccinate up to 4 million residents and employees.

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

North Carolina’s COVID-19 metrics, meanwhile, 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 dying from it. The updated figures will be released around noon.