Thread by @APDillon_

At 11:30 am today Gov. Cooper will hold a briefing
to "discuss the next phase of COVID-19."

Live stream can be found here:
ncdps.gov/news-conference
#ncpol

The briefing will begin shortly, it can also be accessed here:

https://twitter.com/NC_Governor/status/1504479683970101249

#ncpol

Cooper says "We made the right choices. We got our children back in school."
Also "Now, we turn the page on the pandemic knowing that we now have the tools for people and businesses to make the right choices for themselves."

Cooper:
We enter the next phase of individual responsibility, preparedness & prosperity. It’s time to chart a new course. The virus will still be with us, but won’t disrupt us.
Gov. turns it over to DHHS' Kinsley to explain.

Kinsley talks about vaccination, lists core focuses including "empowering people" "maintaining health system capacity" and "collaborating with partners"

Kinsley is changing COVID metrics being tracked. Looks like they are dropping daily case rates.
Talking about waste water surveillance and looking at COVID-like illness tracking in hospitals

CDC Community Level metric will be used with the other metrics DHHS is tracking for a 'true picture' of transmission.

Read about the CDC's Community Levels shift here:
nsjonline.com/article/2022/0…

Kinsley: It's not too late to vaccinate.
Cooper returns to podium, "we never took our eye off economic development."

NC Commerce Sec. Machelle Sanders says NC's economic activity has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Related:
Sanders' office did not refute recent audit findings that DES failed to make pandemic UI payments in a timely manner

https://twitter.com/APDillon_/status/1503386653838254080

Sanders talks about strategies for affordable housing, economic development and higher education opportunities.

Cooper asked if his statewide emergency will be ending.
Gives same explanation of it being needed as in the past.
That's a no; mentions presenting info to the #NCGA for laws to be changed. I will have details on that later.

Today is Day 757 of the governor's statewide SOE.
It turned two years old last week:
nsjonline.com/article/2022/0…

Cooper hands off to Kinsley, who talks about Omicron spikes. 'We're being vigilant.'

This is Q number three for reported Michael Hyland.
Asks about gas/oil production.
Cooper says his concern is cost savings gets passed on to the consumer.

WRAL Q to Kinsley: Vaccination effectiveness wanes. Is this really the time to be letting our guard down with COVID?

Cooper: Biz should encourage employees to get boosted.
Kinsley: We are watching that closely; when is the right moment for a booster etc.

WRAL follow up asks about variants coming to NC.
Kinsley: We tend to trend 4-6 weeks behind what happens in Europe.

WRAL gets a third question too, asks about supply chain & federal COVID funding.
Kinsley/Sanders says they are working with the fed

'Monoclonal antibody availability will drop 30%'

WRAL gets a FOURTH question
Asks about permanent daylight saving time change
Cooper: Not my most pressing issue this week

Cooper on federal funding: we have to be prepared, we have to be ready for this virus.
Says he was on a call with national leaders; we need to keep treatments and vaccines availability high.

Cooper says they will continue to push for more federal covid funding.

Q about making a 4th vaccine shot available to all citizens.
Kinsley: No guidance right now from CDC on 4th shot. Right now with 3 shots you are up to date.

Q on why testing/cases is being 'downgraded' in metrics.
Kinsley: rapid tests are very available but not req. to be reported, we looked at how to get access to that.

Kinsley says that route is not the most effective way to get data on trends.

Q on Ukraine
Cooper: NC stands with Ukraine. Already took actions to curb economic transactions.

Q on "next phase," how far are we from the "end stage of pandemic"
Cooper: Today is about how we approach the future, how we encourage individual responsibility.

Kinsley: Focusing on how we are prepared.
Staying vigilant is important.

Follow up Q: Broad immunity, is that going to determine moving forward?
Kinsley: Immunity is a key factor in being prepared.
It's important to remember variants can evade immunity.

Q on 'low vaccination rate' for K-12 kids
Cooper: We are encouraging vaccines for everyone eligible.
Kinsley: We know vaccines provide the best protection to disease leading to hospitalization.

Kinsley: Vaccination of communities and households are important, but kids are low-risk of getting severe disease.

Q about schools going on spring break & mandates being dropped. Did you consider delaying dropping mandates until after that break?

Cooper: It's been a while since we have had any state mandates.
We want to encourage personal responsibility and empowerment now.

Cooper: Kids can still wear a mask. We have tools now that help us prepare.

Final Q on metrics (by the way, I pressed 1 to ask a Q but didn't get one).
Kinsley says demographic data will still be up there, but front page will align with changes he mentioned today.

My question would have been:
Is NCDHHS going to be revising death metrics like other states are based on CDC recommendations re: a person who died of COVID versus someone who died with a positive COVID test in the last 60 days.

Correction to previous tweet: Day 737

Quick takeaways from today's briefing:
-No end to statewide emergency order & no clear answer why.
-No mention on end to cabinet-level employee req'd testing.
-Monoclonal antibody supply dropping by '30%'.

Here is the set of updates Sec. Kinsley referred to during the press conference:
covid19.ncdhhs.gov/media/3913/dow…