Tues., April 21

Nursing homes with COVID-19 outbreaks also tended to have STAFFING SHORTAGES, North Carolina Health News reported. 

Hundreds of TOTALLY NORMAL LIBERTY LOVERS descended on downtown Raleigh for the second weekly ReOpenNC protest, showing their disdain for masks and social distancing and tyranny and vaccines and 5G and science in general, and their appreciation for Dan Forest and Donald Trump and Gadsden flags and QAnon.

Wed., April 22

The first STATE PRISON INMATE died of COVID-19 at Pender Correctional Institution.

Thurs., April 23

Governor Cooper extended the STAY-AT-HOME ORDER until May 8 and announced a three-part plan for reopening the state. 

“Only” 104,500 North Carolina residents filed for UNEMPLOYMENT in the week ending April 17, a relative improvement. 

Wake County’s manager told its departments to prepare for 7 PERCENT across-the-board cuts in the next fiscal year. 

Donald Trump nominated former Wake County schools superintendent/shitty novelist TONY TATA to be the Defense Department’s undersecretary for policy, probably after seeing him on Fox News. 

Fri., April 24

Durham extended its STAY-AT-HOME order until May 15. 

Cooper announced that schools would REMAIN CLOSED until fall. 

Sun., April 26

Data compiled by the University of Maryland showed that North Carolina residents left their homes and traveled more during the week of April 17–23 than in the previous week, a potential sign that the state is tiring of SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES. 

Mon., April 27

An administrator of the ReOpenNC Facebook group said in a post that she had TESTED POSITIVE for the coronavirus. 

Reversing course, state health officials disclosed the names of NURSING HOMES where coronavirus outbreaks had taken place. 

Duke Health announced that it had detected the novel coronavirus in a PUG NAMED WINSTON, which doctors believed to be the first time the virus had been detected in a dog. (A Pomeranian in Hong Kong tested reportedly positive for the virus in early March, so maybe not.) 

Tues., April 28

With the General Assembly returning for its short session, the state House unveiled a plan to temporarily expand MEDICAID to cover coronavirus treatments. 

Contact editor in chief Jeffrey C. Billman at jbillman@indyweek.com.

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