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Stay at Home Orders Extended through May 8


Orange County’s stay-at-home order will be extended through May 8, Orange County Board of Commissioners Chair Penny Rich announced Thursday, April 23.
Rich, in consultation with Mayors Pam Hemminger of Chapel Hill, Lydia Lavelle of Carrboro and Jenn Weaver of Hillsborough, extended the order to help the county battle the spread of COVID-19. The order was set to expire April 30.

“We are monitoring the stats for Orange County and the state daily, and when the data indicates it is safe for us to ease these restrictions, we will do so,” Rich said.

Gov. Roy Cooper also extended North Carolina’s order through May 8.

Understanding the Outbreak
In general, viruses work by replicating and jumping to new hosts, in this case humans. A virus, such as COVID-19, continues to replicate and spread until it runs out of hosts. The replication rate varies for viruses. In the case of COVID-19 the replication rate is two to three. This means, if uninterrupted, each infected person can infect two to three other people. In turn, those two to three people will infect four to six more people. This will continue into an exponential spread of cases. We’ve already seen this happen in many areas of the world.

This is why the stay at home orders are so important. They are typically in place for 30 days because that it is approximately two isolation periods of 14 days, back to back. In an April 23rd press conference, Governor Roy Cooper said that there are three metrics that will help us to understand when we can ease restrictions-- testing, contact tracing and trends.
  • Increased testing: By working with private and public partners to increase testing capacity, expand testing sites and addressing supply challenges, we will have a more complete picture of the outbreak of COVID-19.
  • Tracing: The state and local health departments will ramp up staffing and technology to determine who has been exposed when someone tests positive.
  • Trends: By analyzing new data, including the number of new cases, hospitalizations, deaths, protective equipment, supplies, hospital capacity and more we will know when to dial up or down social distancing.
Reliable Information
The Orange County Health Department is now providing a weekly summary of cases on Fridays, at 9 a.m. The state updates its COVID-19 case count dashboard daily at 11 a.m.
For the latest information and guidance relating to Orange County’s COVID-19 response:
  • Visit www.orangecountync.gov/coronavirus.
  • Receive daily text updates on the crisis by texting 888-777 with OCNCHEALTH for English speakers and OCNCSALUD for Spanish speakers.
  • Sign up for a twice weekly e-newsletter about the COVID-19 response via the county website.
  • Follow the Orange County Health Department on Facebook and Twitter.

NCDHHS to Provide Additional Food Benefits for More than 800,000 Children Impacted by COVID-19


Governor Roy Cooper announced April 20 that North Carolina has been approved for the new Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program, to help families purchase food for children impacted by school closings due to COVID-19. NCDHHS is working to operationalize the program and families will begin to receive this benefit in coming weeks.

“So many families are in need, especially with so many out of work right now. This approval helps people get assistance faster to feed their families,” said Governor Cooper.
The program provides a benefit on an EBT card to North Carolina families whose children are eligible for free and reduced lunch at school. Families will receive $250 in P-EBT benefits per child, provided in two installments, with the possibility of an additional benefit if North Carolina schools are closed beyond May 15. Families will be able to use the P-EBT benefit to purchase food items at EBT authorized retailers, including most major grocery stores. 

Families will not need to apply for the P-EBT program. P-EBT eligible families already receiving Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) benefits will receive an additional benefit on their existing EBT card. P-EBT eligible families not already enrolled in FNS will be mailed a new EBT card in the next few weeks. Families who receive a new EBT card will receive a letter from DHHS in the mail explaining how to activate and use their card.

North Carolina is one of the first four states to receive federal approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide P-EBT benefits, which are entirely federally funded. 

Visit www.LunchApplication.com to apply online. CHCCS students can print and fill out the form here. Orange County families use the online application or go here.
Photo of older couple studying papers.

Senior Centers offering modified, new services during pandemic


Orange County senior centers offer new and modified programs and services to support older adults.

Orange County Department on Aging suspended activities at both senior centers beginning Monday, March 16, due to the risks presented by COVID-19. Since that time staff have worked to implement and modify programs and services to help support seniors throughout the crisis.

“It has been incredible to see everyone pull together as a team to transition services into virtual programs,” said Janice Tyler, director of the Orange County Department on Aging. “We are offering new and innovative services and working hard every day to meet the changing needs of our community.”
  • Cick here for more information.

Arts Commission grants benefit 45 individuals


The Orange County Arts Commission distributed the first round of relief grants to individuals in our community. These grants will help purchase groceries, pay bills, and provide other essentials for one of the most hard-hit segments of our community. This was possible thanks to the generosity of 95 individual donors and three organizations: Manbites Dog Theater Fund, Orange County Artists Guild, and the Triangle Community Foundation.

  • We dispersed $18,850 to 45 individuals
  • 85% of applicants received a grant ranging from $250-$450
  • 80% of recipients identified as a professional artist, 40% identified as a freelance/contracted arts industry worker, and 24% identified as an impacted employee of an Orange County arts organization (many folks fit into one or more categories)
  • 58% of recipients identified as visual artists, 36% as performing artists, 33% as teaching artists, and 7% as literary artists (again, many fit into multiple categories)
  • Residential breakdown: 19 residents of Chapel Hill, 13 Carrboro, 9 Hillsborough, 2 rural Orange County, and 2 non-county residents who are employees of Orange County arts organizations.
Click here for more information on how you can continue to help our artist's community.
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Cardinal Innovations awards $20,000 grant to Orange County CJRD for COVID-19 support


The Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department (CJRD) has received a $20,000 grant from Cardinal Innovations to support local efforts that improve the health, wellness and stability of Orange County residents exiting jails and prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As jails and prisons present a high risk of infection for staff and for people in detention, local and state advocates and officials have been working to safely reduce the number of vulnerable individuals in these institutions. Orange County CJRD and the Local Reentry Council (LRC) were already assisting returning individuals with case management and funding resources, however the needs at this time are greater than available funding.

“The social and economic impacts of this crisis are significant for everyone, but for individuals re-entering our county from incarceration, the barriers to stability now are even more overwhelming,” said Caitlin Fenhagen, Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department Director. “This generous grant from Cardinal Innovations will enable the CJRD and LRC to provide emergency housing funds and supplies for these individuals, many of whom have behavioral health and medical concerns. This support and case management will provide our residents in need with help in the re-entry process and will make our community safer and more welcoming during a very difficult time.”

“Supporting people as they transition back into our communities following incarceration should be a priority for all of us—especially during these challenging times,” said Cardinal Innovations CEO Trey Sutten. “We are pleased to support the efforts of the Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department as they help these individuals make a fresh start.”

Judicial and law enforcement officials, in collaboration with the CJRD, have reduced the pretrial population in the Orange County Detention Center by almost 50 percent through increased use of Pretrial Services supervision and other diversion measures where appropriate.

Information about eligibility and the process of referral for these funds will be distributed by the CJRD to interested stakeholders.
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www.orangecountync.gov

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300 W Tryon St, Hillsborough, NC 27278

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