Under the watchful eye of Mission Hospital security, several nurses involved with the push to unionize their colleagues demonstrated during the 6 p.m. shift change on April 9. Their signs and conversations with other staff members questioned the availability of personal protective equipment and training to deal with the COVID-19 threat — and how a union might increase their safety.
“What don’t you people understand about ‘Stay at home’?”
The new executive order, effective 5 p.m. on Monday, April 13, limits shoppers to 20% of a store’s permitted fire capacity or five customers per 1,000 square feet. High-volume locations such as checkouts must mark six-foot spaces to ensure social distancing in customer lines, and all stores must conduct “frequent and routine environmental cleaning and disinfection of high-touch areas.”
At a press conference on April 8, Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair Brownie Newman signed a new stay-at-home order, set to take effect when the previous order expires at 6 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, that will only expire when it is “repealed, replaced or rescinded.”
“It’s critical that patients and their doctors know there is no reason to hesitate for even an instant in seeking needed hospital care.”
Due to the county’s heavy reliance on tourism — an industry especially vulnerable to travel and business restrictions imposed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 — Budget Director Jennifer Barnette estimated that April, May and June would all see sales tax receipts 35% less than in 2019.
“Our current best estimate is that if, after April 29, we immediately return to the rates of viral transmission occurring prior to widespread social distancing, stress on hospitals to cope with rising demand from COVID-19 patients could begin as soon as Memorial Day,” says the report, prepared by a team of North Carolina scientists.
Educators will ask the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners for nearly $87,000 in additional funding to ensure meals keep flowing during the April 6-10 break. Approximately 12,000 meals are being provided daily to children ages 2-18, helping meet critical nutrition needs for kids whose families are under stress from the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic fallout.
Dogwood Health Trust expects to spend $10 million — 20 times the amount Buncombe County’s government has allocated so far — on efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its impacts. Dogwood CEO shares his perspective on steps his organization and others are taking to protect Western North Carolina.
Although multiple trucks of supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile have been delivered to other parts of North Carolina by the National Guard over the past week, according to state Director of Emergency Management Mike Sprayberry, county officials say they aren’t aware of any such deliveries to local health care workers.
In addition to the online concerts produced by IamAVL, and its “Echo Sessions” series, which is broadcast on UNCTV and at PBS.org, the web-based music platform also provides streaming service from a number of venues around Asheville. In this era of coronavirus-induced social distancing, such digital capabilities are playing new roles.
At a March 27 press conference, Gov. Roy Cooper announced a stay-at-home order, effective throughout North Carolina at 5 p.m. Monday, March 30, that will stay in effect until Wednesday, April 29 — nearly three weeks longer than the duration of Buncombe County’s recently enacted mandate.
Writer Kiesa Kay provides an update on how people in Yancey County are managing to stay connected and well during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an effort to capture the impact of COVID-19 on our city — both for our readers and for future historians — Xpress is accepting local photographs related to the current health crisis.
“Yes, ABC [Alcoholic Beverage Control] stores are considered essential retail. You’re welcome,” deadpanned Fletcher Tove, Buncombe County’s emergency preparedness coordinator, during a March 26 press briefing on the county’s COVID-19 response.
Myriad nonprofit and community groups are springing into action to help locals persevere through the crisis. As existing organizations adjust their work to focus on COVID-19 needs and new efforts begin to knit neighbors together, community resilience is blooming throughout WNC.
The new order, which will take effect at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, orders “all individuals anywhere in Buncombe County to stay at home,” with limited exceptions for essential activities, through 6 a.m. Thursday, April 9.
With nine people present in the echoing City Hall chamber, Council members on March 24 unanimously approved a consent agenda that granted Mayor Esther Manheimer broad emergency powers.
