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Cornelius News

Protest planned as COVID-19 toll rises

 

April 28. COVID-19 cases statewide as of this morning rose to 9,568, up from 9,142 yesterday, a 4.6 percent increase. But deaths related to the pandemic rose to 342, up 11.8 percent overnight, according to the NC Dept. of Health & Human Services.

There have been 180 deaths in North Carolina nursing homes and residential care facilities, 10 of them at Autumn Care in Cornelius, according to NCDHHS. You can view multiple layers of statewide data here.

In Mecklenburg County there are 1,491 diagnosed cases today, up from 1,471 as reported April 26. There have been 43 related deaths, according to Mecklenburg County Public Health.

Even with the NC death count rising, “Reopen Meck,” plans to organize a demonstration in Uptown Charlotte.

The group, as outlined on Facebook, is an offshoot of the ReopenNC movement. The Facebook page explains,  “with classes and work for many of us, it is difficult to drive up to Raleigh and protest.”

One of the organizers of Reopen NC, Audrey Whitlock, said she has tested positive for COVID-19 but asymptomatic.  She said she has been forced to self-isolate and, therefore, was “imprisoned” in her own home.

The Charlotte Facebook group organizers said a local organization is more accessible. “As it has been pointed out, the stay-at-home order in Meck is more restrictive than what Governor Cooper has ordered for the state. Let’s restore our liberties and freedoms no later than April 29th, 2020,” the Facebook page says.

The demonstration is set for May 1 from noon to 2 pm.  “We will be protesting in the heart of uptown,” the group says.

Gov. Roy Cooper has extended the state’s stay-at-home order to May 8 and has outlined a phased reopening after that.

Johns Hopkins, meanwhile, is reporting nearly 1 million US cases.