From schools to food banks, everyone is feeling the strain. Here are the updates.
By Claire Ferris (’21) and McKay Lucas (’21)
The state of North Carolina is closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic, but since the situation is evolving so rapidly, some North Carolina news sources and government websites are providing updates almost hourly. David Ellis, the Wake County Manager, gave an update on March 22, highlighting the various business closures and social distancing limitations defined in Governor Cooper’s executive orders. He also states that the county “encourage[s] residents to continue biking, running, and hiking,” noting that the greenways are still open, though Raleigh parks, playgrounds, and public restrooms closed starting March 23.
As of March 31, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 1498 cases total in NC, as well as the state’s eighth COVID-19 related death. Additionally, upwards of 23,000 tests have been completed in the state, with those tested still awaiting results. Should you have any concerns related to COVID-19, North Carolina has established a hotline which can be reached at this number: 866-462-3821.
North Carolina’s economy is being tested with the exhaustive growth of the pandemic. Local businesses are encouraging curb-side pick up in order to keep employees hired. Poorly paid workers in restaurant, retail, tourism, and other recreation jobs feel some of the hardest impacts. To make matters worse, roughly half of North Carolina’s counties never were able to recover from the mass number of lost jobs during the Great Recession. The collapse of the service jobs sector will impact these communities who have already been struggling economically. Small and large businesses alike are struggling to bring in enough income to pay rent and employees. Even The Cheesecake Factory has told landlords that they cannot pay their rent by April 1st.
In response to recent developments, an increasing number of NC counties have implemented “stay-at-home” orders to stop the spread of the virus. On March 22, Mecklenburg County became the first NC county to issue one such order; Guilford County and Buncombe County followed on March 25. Wake County followed suit not long after, implementing its own order that went into effect on March 27. With twelve NC counties under stay-at-home orders, Governor Cooper ordered residents of the state to stay at home. The order went into effect March 30 at 5:00 pm and lasts for thirty days — until April 29 — and limits all gatherings to 10 people. Under the order, essential businesses may stay open under social distancing guidelines, and residents are permitted to leave their homes for the purposes of outdoor recreation and helping family members.
Governor Cooper has issued five executive orders in the month of March, ordering on the 23 that all North Carolina public schools must close for in-person instruction until May 15. The transition to virtual learning — though stressful for everyone — has gone relatively smoothly at Cary Academy, considering the wide access to technology students have. We reached out to members of Wake County schools to understand how they and their schools are handling virtual learning after being ordered to close until mid-May.
A senior at Raleigh Charter High School explains: “We’re doing a digital learning plan that is basically receiving updates from each of my teachers everyday about what work they would like me to do for the day. I could get anything from a video lecture to just a worksheet to complete. I also have to fill out a google form each day for my ‘attendance’ to be taken. This requires me to say who my teacher is for each class, and describe the work I completed for that class for the day. It’s not very structured and I have a lot of control over what I do when.”
Natalie Clyburn from Broughton High school explains how her school has approached the challenge, saying, “I just started school; so far there hasn’t been a schedule yet. We are using Thisislanguage.com for French. For several of my classes, they use google classroom to post work, and my teachers also communicate through Remind. Homework is a lot less heavy for me right now.”
Though the abundance of free time adds some peace to this troubling time, the transition to virtual learning has been difficult for a number of reasons. A junior at Cary High School said of the change, “I’m still missing my winter guard season — it got cut short due to this virus.” She added, “it really hit like a truck the week we found out we’d be out of school for at least two weeks.”
The emotional impact from sports, clubs, and social interaction that was haltered due to COVID-19 has been ubiquitous and overwhelming, a challenge that all students across the state and nation are facing. The cancellation of school has also been difficult for students struggling with food insecurity; Governor Cooper recently announced a texting tool for parents and children in need of food assistance, and there are other ways to get involved.
Despite the financial and general problems, the community has found new ways of volunteering while still respecting social distance. Talia Ginsberg (’21) said, “due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and the upcoming weeks and months, organizations such as the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina are in dire need of funds in order to provide food for not only the hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians already facing food insecurity, but also those who have unfortunately become dependent on outside help to be able to get food on the table. In light of this, I decided to create a Virtual Food Drive, essentially a webpage for donations through the Food Bank. All money goes directly to the Food Bank, and every dollar donated provides five meals to our fellow North Carolinians.” You can donate at foodbankcenc.org.
Students, teachers, and parents are adjusting to the novelty of this rapidly evolving pandemic. It’s true, families are going a little stir crazy and siblings are on each other’s last nerves. But we will get through this — together.
Photo from Brooke Cain / News and Observer.