Press Releases

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced its selection of an additional vendor — StarMed Urgent and Family Care, P.A. — based in North Carolina, to continue surging COVID-19 testing capacity in the state.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging North Carolinians who are enrolled in the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to use their food benefits during COVID-19 to support good nutrition for their families. All WIC participants are getting monthly food benefits automatically added to their eWIC account because of the pandemic.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced corrections to the state’s daily and cumulative completed COVID-19 test counts after discovering a discrepancy between electronic and manual reporting of testing data that had been submitted by LabCorp.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order 156 extending, but not waiving, proof-of-immunization and health assessment documentation deadlines for school and child-care facilities.

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced a new, expedited reimbursement program that aims to expand non-congregate sheltering options in communities across the state.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has received its first reported case of a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 positive dog in North Carolina. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. 
 

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) today announced its selection of seven vendors to hire and manage over 250 Community Health Workers, who will be deployed in 50 targeted counties to connect North Carolinians affected by COVID-19 with needed services and support.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) today took additional steps to protect nursing home residents and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic by issuing a Secretarial Order requiring biweekly staff testing and announcing continued state funding for staff testing through November. The order mandates the existing recommendation for biweekly testing.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has 38 upcoming community testing events.
As part of ongoing quality control measures, NCDHHS identified an error in our hospitalization data for the Metrolina Healthcare Preparedness Coalition (MHPC) for July 25 through July 31. This data has been corrected.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Nutrition Services Branch announces its annual participation in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), ensuring children and adults continue to have access to good nutrition. NCDHHS is committed to providing nutritious food especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and USDA flexibilities are in place to facilitate meeting participants’ needs during this challenging time.

According to the North Carolina Division of Public Health (DPH), there have been 1,205 heat-related hospital emergency department visits reported since May 1, 2020. The NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is encouraging people to take precautions to avoid heat exhaustion and other heat-related illnesses, especially on hot days. 

Effective Aug. 1, 2020, a booster dose of meningococcal conjugant vaccine (MenACWY) is required for students entering the 12th grade in public, private or religious schools in North Carolina. Students who do not meet this requirement may not be allowed to attend school until they receive the booster dose.

Funding is now available to help North Carolinians in crisis pay cooling or heating bills or secure cooling or heating resources.

Today, Governor Roy Cooper issued an Executive Order returning regulatory authority for skilled nursing facilities to the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). Current restrictions remain in place as NCDHHS collaborates with industry and advocacy organizations, monitors progress and evaluates options to best protect the health and wellbeing of staff, residents and their loved ones.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services unveiled an updated COVID-19 Dashboard that includes more granular information about hospital capacity and hospitalization trends, both statewide and broken down by region. These new hospitalization data will provide additional insight into North Carolina’s hospital capacity in the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Governor Roy Cooper announced that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) today has approved a third vendor, NC Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA), to expand free COVID-19 testing to historically marginalized communities that currently have limited testing sites. So far, Vidant Health and Orig3n, Inc. have coordinated more than 60 testing events through this initiative with eleven additional events scheduled for today.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) selected 13 businesses to join its pool of qualified vendors to support the state’s response to COVID-19, bringing the total number of vendors to 39.

Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) launched new online tools to help Spanish-speaking North Carolinians to determine if they should consider being tested for COVID-19 and help individuals monitor their symptoms if they have tested positive for or been exposed to COVID-19.

Hoy, el gobernador Roy Cooper anunció que el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte (NCDHHS) lanzó nuevas herramientas en línea para ayudar a los norcarolinianos de habla hispana a determinar si deberían considerar hacerse la prueba de COVID-19 y ayudar a las personas a monitorear sus síntomas, si han dado positivo, o han estado expuestos a COVID-19.