ASHEVILLE - As of 10:45 a.m. May 9, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services tallied 14,360 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the state. That's an increase of 492 cases, or 3.5%, from the May 8 numbers.
NCDHHS counted 544 deaths statewide, an increase of 17, or 3.2%, from the May 8 report.
Those numbers differ slightly from the Johns Hopkins University count shown in the graphic above.
Buncombe County reported 91 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of May 8. Four people had died in Buncombe from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, according to state counts, Henderson County had 224 cases and 27 deaths.
Avery County remained the only county in the state without a confirmed case.
COVID-19 cases in other Western North Carolina counties, according to state counts:
- Cherokee: 18 cases, 1 death.
- Clay: 5 cases, 0 deaths.
- Graham: 2 cases, 0 deaths.
- Haywood: 16 cases, 0 deaths.
- Jackson: 21 cases, 1 death.
- Macon: 3 cases, 1 death.
- Madison: 1 case, 0 deaths.
- McDowell: 29 cases, 1 death.
- Mitchell: 5 cases, 0 deaths.
- Polk: 29 cases, 0 deaths.
- Swain: 5 cases, 0 deaths.
- Transylvania: 7 cases, 0 deaths.
- Watauga: 9 cases, 0 deaths.
- Yancey: 7 cases, 0 deaths.
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Mother's Day in the time of coronavirus
Here's a Mother's Day story with a twist.
As family member after family member fell ill, Lucy Ortiz relied on faith and routine.
Quarantined at her home in Henderson County, Lucy continued cooking El Salvadorian staples, and family favorites, like pupusas, beans, and chicken with rice. She continued assigning her children daily chores, which in addition to keeping their house tidy, also helped distract their minds from the sickness that surrounded them.
“Trying to keep everything in order so the kids don’t lose hope,” Lucy, who is 34, said in Spanish.
Of the eight people in Lucy’s household, three tested positive for COVID-19, including her 17-month-old son, Alexis. Her eldest daughter, 16-year-old Karina, who doesn't live in the house, also tested positive. Lucy says other close family members, including herself, developed severe symptoms throughout April.
“Almost all of us got sick at the same time,” Lucy said. “I was really, really bad. I had a cough so bad, I couldn’t breathe."
Read the full story by Brian Gordon with translation help from Elizabeth Anne Brown.
More: Henderson mother cared for baby with COVID-19. As bills mounted, strangers helped.
Opening Day
We're not talking baseball here. And technically, it was Reopening Day. And even more precisely, it was Partial Reopening Day.
Four state parks in Western North Carolina partially reopened to what was expected to be record crowds, according to North Carolina State Parks spokeswoman Katie Hall.
Photographer Angela Wilhelm went to Mount Mitchell State Park to observe the activity. Wilhelm said there weren't many people at the park in early afternoon, when the temperatures there were in the 30s. (Full disclosure: It was my idea for Wilhelm to go to Mount Mitchell. She thought Lake James would be a better destination to observe bigger crowds. I believe I'll listen to Angie next time!)
But it was a beautiful day, and Wilhelm took some cool photos.
The other state parks in WNC that partially reopened were Chimney Rock, Grandfather Mountain and Lake James. Gorges State Park is expected to partially reopen May 13.
More: Coronavirus: Many state parks partially reopen May 9; Pisgah forest, Gorges on May 13
Parkway reopening
If you're heading to Mount Mitchell State Park, don't try to get there from Asheville via the Blue Ridge Parkway.
While the Asheville commuter section is open, and short stretches here and there also are open, much of the parkway in Western North Carolina remains closed to vehicles from 14 miles north of the southern end near Cherokee through Blowing Rock.
But Elizabeth Anne Brown reports that, barring maintenance projects or unforeseen circumstances, those closed sections will reopen May 15. Until then, you can walk or ride a bike on the closed sections of the parkway.
More: Coronavirus: Much of Blue Ridge Parkway in WNC to reopen May 15, small section May 9
A look at rents and evictions
A group calling itself UHOH! (Unemployed Humans Organizing Help!) held a demonstration in Asheville, calling for the cancellation of rent and mortgage payments during shutdowns and income loss because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Brian Gordon reports that even before COVID-19, thousands of Asheville-area renters directed significant portions of their incomes to cover housing costs. According to the city of Asheville-commissioned Bowen National Research, close to half of the roughly 19,700 renting households in the city are “cost burden households.” This means these households pay more than 30% of their incomes toward housing costs. The report found 25% of Asheville home owners are equally cost burdened.
Courts are not holding eviction hearings now, but, as Pisgah Legal Services' Robin Merrell says: “Ultimately, people's rent is going to become due. Courts are going to open back up, and people can be evicted for not paying.”
Read the full story for a closer look at the situation and options for people who are having a hard time paying rent because of coronavirus-related income loss.
More: Half of Asheville households rent. Some now call to cancel housing payments.
Are we taking this seriously?
The May 8 loosening of restrictions put into place to slow the spread of coronavirus by Gov. Roy Cooper and Buncombe County has allowed more commercial activity to take place. Stores and businesses are supposed to be keeping the customer level at 50% of capacity, and shoppers are encouraged to wear face masks and social distance, that is, stay 6 feet away from each other.
A reader's observations Saturday indicate some people are not following the guidelines.
"I drive through downtown on my way home from (work).Today about half the people at (some downtown businesses) were not distancing or wearing masks. Do people think it’s all good now? The virus is in the community with many asymptomatic carriers, many young. Apparently some customers are refusing to wear masks and being rude. This scares me in that we could easily become a hot spot with all our tourism and lines. I contacted one business, and the staff said people were being disrespectful and not following directions. They couldn’t make them do these two things."
Yikes.
A reminder from Boyle
Like many people, columnist John Boyle is itching to break out of the house and head to some outdoors recreation areas.
But Boyle recalls the words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on "Hill Street Blues": "Let's be careful out there."
"My concern is that we're all just going to collectively throw caution, and our masks, to the wind and not adhere to the rules, mainly because we've just got pandemic fatigue," Boyle writes.
"And while I'll get outdoors for sure, if the parking lots and trails are overwhelmed, I'll wait till later."
More: Boyle column: Seriously, 'Let's be careful out there'
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