By WECT Staff | June 15, 2020 at 11:29 AM EDT – Updated June 15 at 2:54 PM
RALEIGH, N.C. (WECT) – State officials are expected to announce early next week whether North Carolina will transition into Phase 3 of reopening in the near future.
“At the first of next week, we will be announcing our decision, based on science and based on advice from health experts, if we’re going into the next phase that would start on Friday of next week, and if we are, what it will look like,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday. “We believe we can flatten this curve and prevent this second surge from happening. We hope that we can do that soon
“I’m asking the people of North Carolina, let’s pull together so we can continue to move forward in easing restrictions. That being said we’ll always do what is the best for the health and safety of North Carolinians.”
New application process for homeowners seeking federal funding for Florence repairs
North Carolina has opened a new application process for homeowners seeking federal housing funding for Florence repairs, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a media briefing Monday.
“The program starting today took the federal government almost two years – 500 days – after Florence made landfall to publish the register laying out the requirements of how this money can be invested,” Cooper said. “But when it was time, North Carolina was on it and turned in an action plan within 24 hours and was the first state to receive approval of our plan.
“We know help can never come fast enough if you’ve been devastated by disaster. But NCORR’s diligent work to act quickly will mean recovery money getting in the hands of people who need it sooner.”
Cooper added that the recovery office already has identified and approved more than 1,300 homes for Community Development Block Grant funding.
Cooper said that the upward trend in positive tests in the state was especially concerning in nine counties – Alamance, Duplin, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Johnston, Lee, Mecklenburg and Wake.
“Over the weekend, I talked to Vice President Pence about North Carolina’s concerning numbers. I asked him to help us with increasing our testing capabilities, especially in these counties,” Cooper said.
Cooper also said state officials are focusing on testing all nursing home residents and staff.
Gov. Roy Cooper to speak on COVID-19, share update on Hurricane Florence recovery at 2 p.m.
Posted by WECT News on Monday, 15 June 2020
Copyright 2020 WECT. All rights reserved.