COVID-19 Update (5-22-20)

May 22, 2020

Here’s today’s update:

The CDC has updated its “How Coronavirus Spreads” page to reflect the latest science indicating that the virus spreads primarily from person-to-person contact and not via the touching of contaminated objects or surfaces.

There are currently over 1.57 million COVID-19 cases and over 94,700 deaths in the United States, as reported by Johns Hopkins. Of those, 32% of cases and 41% of deaths are in New York and New Jersey. There are over 5.1 million cases and over 332,000 deaths worldwide.

The U.S. has now performed more than 13 million tests, with 2.67 million of those tests performed in the past 7 days.

An update on Operation Warp Speed, the historic effort launched by the Trump Administration to speed development of a vaccine and treatments:
14 possible vaccines are currently under development
The FDA is overseeing clinical trials of 130 potential COVID-19 drugs, with another 450 in the pipeline.

The Department of Health and Human Services has begun disbursing $11 billion in funding to states to support expanded testing capacity and other testing-related services. North Carolina has received more than $218 million to support expanded testing to date.

Brunswick County is reminding business owners to flush their appliances that may have been idle for long periods of time before reopening. Instructions from the county are available here.

For today’s good news story, I’m highlighting Brunswick Community College students , who were still able to pick up their graduation regalia despite the COVID-19 outbreak. Even in the midst of the challenges created by this crisis, educators are continuing to go above and beyond to ensure graduates get the recognition they deserve.

As always, visit coronavirus.gov and the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ website for the latest on the outbreak.

Sincerely,

David Rouzer