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Press Releases
Governor Roy Cooper announced today that parents who need food assistance for their children can text FOODNC to 877-877 to locate nearby free meal sites. The texting service is also available in Spanish by texting COMIDA to 877-877.
After entering their address, parents will receive a text with the location and serving times for nearby pick-up and drive-thru free meal sites while schools are closed. Sites have been set up across the state for families with children ages 18 and younger, including preschool children, who rely on free and reduced-price meals at school.
The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Loris Sutton as the new Prisons’ Central Region Director, based in Raleigh.
Sutton had been the Director of Operations since October 2019. She takes her new position on April 6.
In her new position, Sutton will provide oversight to the central region’s 11 facilities and, after a region realignment in May, to the five female facilities located across the state.
The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Michael Roach as warden of Dan River Prison Work Farm in Blanch.
He has served as assistant warden at the facility since 2015.
As warden, Roach is responsible for all operations at the male, minimum custody facility, which features a joint venture with the N.C. Wildlife Commission to restore forest land, parks and lakes across North Carolina.
For people who think they might have COVID-19 and have mild symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends they stay home and call their doctor for medical advice. Most people who get COVID-19 will have mild illness and recover at home.
The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Cynthia Thornton as the director of Prisons’ newly created Standards and Performance section.
Thornton has been the director of Prisons’ Central Region since February 2019, overseeing 15 correctional institutions. She will begin her new position April 6.
Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Mandy Cohen and Director of NC Emergency Management Mike Sprayberry will be available today for a dial-in media briefing at 2 p.m. regarding COVID-19. Please see below for
details on how to join the call. A live stream video feed will be available from a pool camera. In
order to maintain social distancing guidelines and further prevent the spread of COVID-19, the
media room at the State Emergency Operations Center will not be open for media to attend in
person.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is reporting the first COVID-19 associated deaths.
A person from Cabarrus County died on March 24 from complications associated with the virus. The patient was in their late seventies and had several underlying medical conditions. A second person in their sixties, from Virginia who was traveling through North Carolina also died from COVID-19 complications. To protect the families’ privacy, no further information about these patients will be released.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Division of Health Benefits (NC Medicaid) will temporarily increase payments rates to long-term care providers and facilities to support them in caring for Medicaid beneficiaries who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19. Medicaid will also be temporarily increasing rates to behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disability and specialized therapy providers for vulnerable children and adults in outpatient and residential settings.
State Public Health and Emergency Management Officials will be available today for a dial-in media briefing at 2 p.m. regarding COVID-19. Reporters can call in to monitor the remarks and ask questions. A livestream video feed will be available from a pool camera. In order to maintain social distancing guidelines and further prevent the spread of COVID-19, the media room at the State Emergency Operations Center will not be open for media to attend in person.
What:
COVID-19 Media Availability
Governor Cooper directed $50 million in school funding flexibility to help public schools and support the greatest needs to serve students during the COVID-19 crisis. Governor Cooper has ordered North Carolina public schools to remain closed to in-class instruction through May 15.