Thread by @JeffJacksonNC

"Hey Jeff, what's the latest on reopening NC?"

The basic idea had been to reopen once we were about two weeks past the peak. That's still the guidance from the White House.

But the issue is the more we've flattened the curve the more we've pushed out the peak.

[thread] #ncpol

So we readjusted. We want to keep people safe AND provide a pathway to successfully reopening.

The new position is, "Ok, as long as we've basically flattened a few different types of curves for a couple weeks, we'll start to carefully reopen."

So the new goal is "sustained leveling."

We're looking for leveling in a handful of areas, not just infections.

(The truth is, we're still strictly rationing our tests due to multiple bottlenecks and shortages, so we really can't base policy just on infection rates.)

One of those key areas is hospitalizations, where we want to see a leveling of new daily cases.

Here's where we are:

Except for an uptick yesterday, you can see some decent leveling. That's positive - and it's also why hospitals have slowly resumed elective surgeries. The halt in elective surgeries cost our state's health care system $1b last month, with rural hospitals getting hit hardest.

Another key metric is testing. NC DHHS says they want to see testing average of 5,000 - 7,000 people per day.

As you can see from this chart, we've only gotten into that range five times in the last month.

There's some optimism around LabCorp's new at-home test, which just got FDA approval. They FedEX you a nasal swab, you mail it back and get your results online. Initially, these tests will only be for health care and front-line workers, but could go wider in the next few weeks.

QUICK ITEMS

- We are going to create a sizable fund for small business loans, to be administered by the Golden Leaf Fund. The original fund of $15m has been depleted, which is why we are going to re-fund and significantly expand it. When funded, go here: goldenleaf.org/news/golden-le…

- There is some talk among the majority party of a partial, temporary expansion of Medicaid specifically for the testing and treatment of COVID patients. Senate leadership still opposes full-scale Medicaid expansion.

- We are reopening a hospital in Richmond County that was closed three years ago and prepping it as a COVID surge facility.

- Over 900 members of our National Guard are helping to transport PPE and food across the state.

- Under current law, schools can’t start earlier than the Monday closest to August 26. The senate bill passed yesterday moves date to August 17. The Governor would rather give school districts the discretion. This is a perennial issue in the NCGA, but it's taken on more urgency.

- An early version of the senate's COVID bill included a section that said teachers needed to prove that their online instruction would get the same outcomes as in-person instruction. Teachers rightfully called that unrealistic and the section was amended to say...

... that remote learning plans must have “work measurement guidelines appropriate to each grade level." There is also discussion about waiving the required K-3 class size reduction next year, as this is essentially an unfunded mandate and counties are going to be resource-starved

- We've hired 250 contact tracers with plans to hire another 250.

- A new drug that is showing promise at treating COVID patients was created at the labs at UNC-CH. Dr. Fauci said the new drug "has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect." It's still being tested.

MORE SOON