It’s tradition for many here in Raleigh to take part in a turkey-themed race the morning of Thanksgiving. What better way to whet your appetite for a huge meal than running three miles?
While many local races have been cancelled the past couple of months due to COVID, fortunately, Trophy Brewing Company is still hosting its annual Trophy Trot, only virtually. Choose from a 5K or a 10K to run anywhere, at any time, between November 15 and November 30, either solo or with your family and friends.
The race benefits Healing Transitions, a nonprofit organization with the mission to offer innovative, recovery-oriented services to homeless and underserved individuals struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction.
The top three overall female and male competitors will win cash prizes of $100, $75 and $50, and all who register will get a race medal and a beer from Trophy Brewing Company.
Another local Thanksgiving-themed race still taking place this year is Cary’s Inside-Out Sports Turkey Trot on November 21, with an in-person 5K, virtual 8K and in-person 1 mile.
WEB EXCLUSIVE In a press conference held Tuesday, November 17, Governor Roy Cooper announced a new COVID-19 County Alert System and cases-by-county map in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus throughout the state. Cooper said that while the entire state is experiencing high levels of community transmission, the virus is impacting several counties particularly hard.
The County Alert System uses metrics provided by the White House Coronavirus Task Force and North Carolina’s own key metrics to categorize counties into three tiers: significant community spread (yellow), substantial community spread (orange) and critical community spread (red). Metrics used to categorize counties include case rate (number of new cases in 14 days per 100,000 people), percent of tests that are positive over 14 days, and hospital impact (percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations, COVID-19 related visits to the ER and staffed, open hospital beds).
In order for a county to move from yellow to orange or red they must meet the following case rate, percentage of positive cases and hospital impacts outlined by NC DHHS secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen in Tuesday’s press conference.
Once a county moves into orange or red zones the state will provide additional actions individuals, businesses, community organizations and public officials can take to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “North Carolina’s numbers are increasing, not surging,” said Cooper. “If businesses and leaders in orange and red counties work with us to bring down numbers, we can help our hospital system and decrease case numbers.”
Currently, 10 counties are red, 43 are orange and the remaining counties are yellow. Dr. Cohen says that the Triad region (Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point) is experiencing a particularly rapid increase in hospitalizations. However, she remains confident that North Carolinians will be able to work together to avoid the threatening situations other states are experiencing.
“More and more states are tightening restrictions,” Cohen said during Tuesday’s press conference. “We hope to avoid such action. By pinpointing counties and asking them to do more to protect their communities, we can succeed in saving lives and easing the strain on hospitals.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE As we near closer to the holiday season, coronavirus numbers in North Carolina have continued to steadily increase. Positive COVID-19 tests have remained fairly level since mid-October but are now closer to 7 percent, with thousands of positive cases being reported each day. Until we get back down to 5 percent positivity or below, the state is stuck at a stand still. In a press conference held Tuesday, November 10, Governor Roy Cooper and DHHS secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen recommended that people who are travelling for Thanksgiving get a COVID test three or four days ahead of time—and stay home if the test is positive—wear a mask and social distance.
Phase 3 Extended
Due to the increased number of positive cases, Gov. Cooper has decided to extend phase 3 again, which would have expired this Friday, November 13, but will now last until December 4 at the earliest. Additionally, Cooper reduced the limit on indoor gatherings from 25 people to 10; outdoor gathering limits remain at 50 people. “The more people that are gathered, the more this virus can spread,” Cooper said in the press conference held Tuesday afternoon. “[This ruling] aims to slow the spread and bring down our numbers. We need everyone to focus on keeping safe this holiday season.”
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Trending
With the increase in positive coronavirus cases also comes an increase in hospitalizations. Last Saturday, 97 percent of hospitals reported an increase of 35 more patients over Friday. Over 1,200 people are currently hospitalized across the state. “We are on shaky grounds,” Dr. Cohen said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Hospitalizations are up since September and are overall too high as we head into the colder months, and hospitals have stretched capacity.” Be sure to get your flu shot and continue practicing the three Ws in order to help save lives.
A Potential Vaccine
Last week, biopharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced their coronavirus vaccine was successful in first interim efficacy analysis, proving more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without infection. So far, the drug has not caused any serious side effects among participants. While the vaccine would most likely not be available for several months, it does provide a renewed sense of hope for the world in this dark time.
WEB EXCLUSIVE In honor of Veterans Day (Wednesday, November 11), The Blood Connection (TBC) and Blood Assurance have teamed up for a friendly competitive blood drive in order to honor veterans. Now through November 11, all donors will receive a $10 gift card, and a $10 donation will be made to the Special Forces Wounded Warrior Fund (SFWWF), which raises money and awareness for those who have served in the U.S. Special Forces and are wounded, ill, injured or have fallen upon difficult times.
Both TBC and Blood Assurance are in urgent need of donations in order to maintain a stable blood supply for communities in need amid the coronavirus pandemic and the approaching holiday season. Blood donations typically tend to drop around this time of year, so the two blood centers hope their friendly competition will inspire individuals to both save lives in their communities and give back to deserving veterans.
As part of the blood drive competition, Blood Assurance and TBC will compete to see which blood centers’ donors can donate the most blood during the promotion. Last year, Blood Assurance raised $7,100 as part of their “Give Because They Gave First” promotion and hopes to reach—or surpass—that goal this year.
WEB EXCLUSIVE It’s been two days since the election and everyone is wondering why the next president of the United States has yet to be announced. As of today, Thursday, November 5, there are six outstanding states where presidential votes have yet to be fully counted: Arizona, Alaska, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. This delay is largely due to how individual states are counting and the order in which they count different types of votes (i.e. absentee ballots sent by mail).
Results as of Thursday, November 5, 11:19 a.m.
In North Carolina, absentee ballots had to be postmarked on or before Election Day, November 3, and they are counted as long as they are received by the county board of elections by 5 p.m. on November 12. Provisional ballots have also yet to be counted. This means that, at the earliest, North Carolina will have their final counts by late November 12 or November 13. The State Board of Elections will meet on November 24 to certify the election.
North Carolina is one of the only states that has the November 3 postmark deadline that prolongs the election process. The state board had extended the deadline for absentee ballots earlier this year to be received at local election offices from November 6 to November 12 as part of a consent decree in a state lawsuit by voting rights advocates.
While Joe Biden has won the popular vote already, he must get at least 270 electoral votes to officially win the election. According to the BBC, “If you win a state, you win all its votes (except Nebraska and Maine, but that’s complicated). There are 538 state votes and the person who gets 270 wins the prize.” In North Carolina, there are approximately 290,000 ballots left to be counted and Trump is currently ahead by 76,737 votes. The graph below from The New York Times shows the estimated votes reported, votes remaining and the current margin for all the remaining six states.
Graph courtesy of The New York Times. Results as of Thursday, November 5, 11:19 a.m.
For more information on the election and how votes are counted in each state, visit the Associated Press website.
