The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) today announced the hiring of Victor Armstrong as the Department’s first ever Chief Health Equity Officer. NCDHHS created the position as well as the Office of Health Equity to lead its focus to advance health equity and reduce disparities in opportunity and outcomes for historically marginalized populations.
In response to actions taken by the Union County Board of Education, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services issued a letter to the Board’s Chair outlining required COVID-19 control measures all schools in the state must implement to protect student, staff and community health and noting that failure to comply may prompt legal action.
Governor Roy Cooper visited Cape Fear Clinic in Wilmington to see their COVID-19 operations. The clinic offers COVID-19 tests, vaccinations and monoclonal antibody treatments.
I got the COVID-19 vaccine shortly after it became publicly available. I did so because I was persuaded that the benefits of vaccination far outweighed the risk.
"We know that keeping kids learning in the classroom is the most important thing for our students right now. Getting vaccinated, wearing a mask in public indoor settings and following the science is what we need to do," said Governor Cooper. "The faster we put this pandemic behind us, the sooner we can all rest easy and stay healthy."
Public health officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services are urging North Carolinians to protect themselves, their families and those around them by getting vaccinated against Influenza as the state enters flu season while experiencing a surge of COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is seeing a sharp increase in COVID-19 clusters among school sports teams. For the period between July 1 and Sept. 2, 2021, clusters among school sports teams accounted for 45% of all clusters in North Carolina middle and high schools, despite most school sports activities not beginning until August as schools began the fall semester. School sports teams are urged to follow NCDHHS guidance for youth sports.
The White House and FEMA have granted Governor Roy Cooper’s Aug. 27 request for a major disaster declaration for seven North Carolina counties that were hit hard by floods after Tropical Storm Fred.
Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed September as Deaf Awareness Month to celebrate and raise awareness about people who are Deaf and belong to a cultural and linguistic community, with shared language, social norms, rules of behavior and history. This year commemorates 70 years since the first congress of the World Federation of the Deaf, which was held in September of 1951.
Climbing COVID-19 hospitalizations in North Carolina have energized the campaign for renewed mask mandates. The rules have also sparked protests from some who view it as a threat to personal liberty and dispute the efficacy of masking toward mitigating the spread of coronavirus.
More than 180,000 North Carolina households are getting critical assistance affording high-speed internet service thanks to a federal relief program that helps families in need pay internet bills and fully participate in the digital economy.
Governor Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 229. The Executive Order extends several provisions outlined in Executive Order 224 that direct the State Health Director to issue statewide standing orders for testing and vaccination. Additionally, this Order directs cabinet agencies to implement the COVID-19 vaccination and testing policy developed by the North Carolina Office of Human Resources (OSHR).
