Press Releases

The White House granted Governor Roy Cooper’s request late Wednesday for a federal disaster declaration for the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic in North Carolina. The declaration provides Public Assistance to all 100 North Carolina counties, allowing local governments, state agencies and eligible non-profits to be reimbursed for costs involved in responding to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is reporting the first COVID-19 associated deaths. 

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has partnered with the North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) network to launch a hotline to provide child care options for children of critical workers who do not have access to typical care because of COVID-19 closures.

Governor Cooper directed $50 million in school funding flexibility to help public schools and support the greatest needs to serve students during the COVID-19 crisis. Governor Cooper has ordered North Carolina public schools to remain closed to in-class instruction through May 15. 

Governor Roy Cooper ordered tighter limits on gatherings and extended school closures statewide to May 15, 2020. 

Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced that North Carolina restaurants and bars will be closed to sit-down service and limited to take-out or delivery orders starting at 5 pm tonight, March 17, 2020. Grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores, are exempt from this order and will remain open, though they may not serve sit-down food.

Governor Roy Cooper today ordered all K-12 public schools in North Carolina to close for a minimum of two weeks in response to COVID-19. The Executive Order also bans gatherings of more than 100 people.

Two people from Forsyth County and a person from Johnston County have tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total of positive cases in North Carolina to 12, including a Durham resident who tested positive in another state.

A second North Carolina person, unrelated to the first case, has tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The test, conducted by the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health, is presumptively positive and will be confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab. The person is doing well and is in isolation at home.

As North Carolina continues to prepare for the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, the NC State Laboratory of Public Health (NCSLPH) within the NC Department of Health and Human Services is now able to perform testing for the virus. This new capability allows North Carolina to more quickly take public health steps to respond to any positive test result.