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Sanitation workers already have one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Here's how COVID-19 is making things even more challenging. #COVID19NC #coronavirusNC #nchealth northcarolinahealthnews.org/2…

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Study co-authors Tiffany Penland (left) and Casey Grieshaber gather fish from the Pee Dee River to test tissue for the presence and abundance of PFAS. Photo credit: N.C. State

N.C. State study finds PFAS throughout Yadkin-Pee Dee River food chain

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N.C. State study finds PFAS throughout Yadkin-Pee Dee River food chain - North Carolina Health News

Researchers say the PFAS could threaten the ecosystem, human health and an imperiled fish called the robust redhorse.

By Greg Barnes While sampling the Yadkin-Pee Dee River’s food chain for perfluorinated compounds known as PFAS, N.C. State University researchers managed to capture a robust redhorse that was about to spawn. Capturing the fish, a member of the sucker family, was no easy task. According to N.C. Wildlife Commission, an estimated 62 reproductive adult […]

shows a man at a podium holding up a face mask used as a COVID preventive as he speaks from behind a podium.

Coronavirus Today – May 8 – COVID faces, not statistics; drive for increased testing; Mother’s Day

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Coronavirus Today – May 8 – COVID faces, not statistics; drive for increased testing; Mother’s Day - North Carolina Health News

As social distancing restrictions ease, Gov. Roy Cooper urges North Carolinians to remember families and communities mourning lost loved ones.

By North Carolina Health News staff More than a pandemic number Gov. Roy Cooper reminded North Carolinians that there are faces, families, loved ones and mourning communities that tell the stories of this pandemic. As the state eases social distancing restrictions to allow for more retail activity and state park visits, Cooper portrayed some of […]

shows trend lines for COVID-like illnesses in the emergency departments higher than in prior years, but decreasing overall

Coronavirus Today – May 5 – Cooper eases restrictions as of Friday, reporting on nursing home, meat processor outbreaks

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Coronavirus Today – May 5 – Cooper eases restrictions as of Friday, reporting on nursing home, meat processor outbreaks - North Carolina Health News

Gov. Roy Cooper signs an order to slightly ease social distancing restrictions beginning Friday, as he asks people to "wear, wait and wash."

By North Carolina Health News staff Wear, wait and wash in next phase North Carolinians could have a few more places to leave home for after 5 p.m. Friday, when a modified statewide stay-at-home order signed by Gov. Roy Cooper takes effect. Cooper announced plans to move the state into the first phase of easing […]

The Smithfield Food's hog-processing plant in Tar Heel appeared to be operating as usual on Tuesday, April 28, 2019. Photo credit Greg Barnes

Smithfield’s largest slaughterhouse struggling to contain virus

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Smithfield’s largest slaughterhouse struggling to contain virus - North Carolina Health News

No one will say how many workers at Smithfield’s Tar Heel plant have the coronavirus, but the plant has reduced employees’ hours in what they say is an effort to better protect them.

By Greg Barnes Early Monday, Lumberton lawyer Dale Godfrey said he got word from workers at Smithfield Foods’ Tar Heel plant that the world’s largest hog slaughterhouse might have to close because of an outbreak of the coronavirus. Godfrey said those reports were bolstered by a plant worker who sent him a picture of a […]

The Smithfield Foods processing plant in Tar Heel employs up to 5,000 workers and slaughters 30,000 to 35,000 hogs a day: Photo credit: Melissa Sue Garrets, The Fayetteville Observer

Two more processing plants identified as having coronavirus outbreaks

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Two more processing plants identified as having coronavirus outbreaks - North Carolina Health News

The state says 190 workers at seven meat and poultry processing plants have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s up from 118 on Tuesday.

By Greg Barnes Two more meat processing plants in North Carolina are experiencing coronavirus outbreaks, bringing the total number of meat and poultry plants with COVID outbreaks to seven, state health officials announced Thursday. The state Department of Health and Human Services still won’t name the plants or say how many workers have tested positive […]

shows hog carcasses hanging in a processing plant.

Coronavirus invading N.C. meat processing plants

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Coronavirus invading N.C. meat processing plants - North Carolina Health News

Five processing plants, including the mammoth Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Tar Heel, are experiencing outbreaks of the coronavirus, state health officials say.

By Greg Barnes Additional contributions by Enlace Latino NC staff It didn’t take long for the coronavirus to sweep through a Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On March 26, the plant announced its first case of COVID-19. By April 13, more than 300 workers had tested positive. Today the plant is considered […]

A sign for Grays' Creek Elementary, in an area that

Local governments, residents having to foot bill for industrial contamination

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Local governments, residents having to foot bill for industrial contamination - North Carolina Health News

Cumberland County is the latest to approve spending millions to provide public drinking water to two schools and an area with well contamination caused by the Chemours chemical company.

By Greg Barnes More and more, local governments and North Carolina residents are being forced to spend millions of dollars to protect public health by fixing contamination problems caused by industry. In the Wilmington area, the Cape Fear Public Utilities Authority is spending $46 million to filter GenX and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known […]

shows white fireworks against a dark sky. 2019, 2020

NC health trends and policies to watch for in 2020

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NC health trends and policies to watch for in 2020 - North Carolina Health News

We asked our reporters to predict the biggest developments in health in the state this coming year. Today, we look ahead on Medicaid transformation, environmental policy, mental health and more.

By North Carolina Health News staff Our reporters explored some of the biggest topics in North Carolina’s health arena from Medicaid managed care to mental health in prisons, to the state’s opioid crisis. Here is a sampling of the topics they’ll be monitoring in the coming year: Medicaid battles continue with a January mini session […]

A doctor and patient in a community health center

Community health centers are again on the brink of federal funding lapse

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Community health centers are again on the brink of federal funding lapse - North Carolina Health News

The federal budget -- and with it funding for community health centers -- is set to lapse on Dec. 21.

By Liora Engel-Smith Across North Carolina, community health centers are contending with what has become an unpleasant tradition: planning for a potential federal funding lapse. The nation’s safety net clinics — 250 of which are in North Carolina — serve thousands of uninsured and underinsured patients and enjoy bipartisan support. But a battle between Congress […]

Shows Hurricane Dorian as it was over the NC Coast in September

Gov. Cooper signs Storm Recovery Act despite concerns

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Gov. Cooper signs Storm Recovery Act despite concerns - North Carolina Health News

Nearly $180 million in help is on the way for North Carolina recovery and resiliency projects related to hurricanes Dorian, Florence, Matthew and Michael.

By Anne Blythe A political storm that brewed last week between Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders over language in the Storm Recovery Act of 2019 calmed this week. The Democratic governor signed the bill into law, approving the release of some $180 million in state funds for recovery and resilience projects related to […]

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