Press Releases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination for people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services encourages North Carolinians to seek mental health support through the Hope4NC helpline (1-855-587-3463) available 24/7 via call, text or chat.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced updates have been made to the StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit focusing on strategies that are most effective at this stage of the pandemic, like vaccines, boosters, testing and masking, and no longer recommending individual contact tracing in K-12 schools. Additionally, NCDHHS recommends students and staff no longer be required to stay home from school following a COVID-19 exposure, unless they have symptoms or test positive.

The North Carolina National Guard is deploying guard members to Alamance Regional Medical Center, part of the Cone Health System, in Burlington, N.C. to support staff and hospital operations. The 25 NCNG soldiers and airmen will arrive Thursday morning.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the Food and Nutrition Services program has expanded participation in the FNS Online Purchasing Program from seven retailers to 11. FNS recipients can access these 11 retailers online to make food purchases with their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards.

Wastewater monitoring data from North Carolina are now part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national COVID Data Tracker (CDT) website.

To improve the health of Medicaid beneficiaries, and to reduce costs, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is building an innovative health care delivery system with a payment structure that rewards better health outcomes, integrates physical and behavioral health, and invests in non-medical interventions. The effort is part of Managed Care Transformation.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the launch of the Division of Child and Family Well-Being to help achieve its vision of children who are healthy and who thrive in safe, stable and nurturing families, schools and communities.

With COVID-19 cases reaching record highs last month, North Carolina laboratories reported 2,627,371 tests performed across the state during the month of January. This included 11 days with more than 100,000 tests and a one-day high of 135,031 on Jan. 12. To help meet the unprecedented demand for testing and promote greater equity in test availability, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 response team shipped 441,038 rapid antigen test kits across North Carolina since Dec. 23, 2021.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Cafecito and Spanish language tele-town hall on Thursday, Feb. 3, from 6 –7p.m. to discuss COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, testing and more.