Charlotte Talks: Mecklenburg County And North Carolina Respond To Coronavirus Outbreak

A local update on what public health officials are doing to keep abreast of the coronavirus. So far, we haven’t been affected here in Mecklenburg County, but the governor declared a state of emergency on Tuesday. What should you do? What is being done to keep the area healthy?

As reports of coronavirus increase in North Carolina and around the United States, local municipalities are responding in an effort to keep residents safe. North Carolina currently has seven residents who have a presumptive positive test for COVID-19. None of those cases is in the Charlotte region, but the virus is spreading across the world causing illness, death and threatening a worldwide recession as daily life changes in the face of the potential pandemic.

Here in our region, Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency for North Carolina out of an abundance of caution, and Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris says we are operating under a “first response” level. Harris and others join us to talk about what Mecklenburg County (and the state of North Carolina) officials are preparing for in regards to COVID-19 — and we’ll discuss what we can expect as more cases are diagnosed.

To listen to the Charlotte Talks report with Dr. Daniel Janies from UNCC, click here.