Burke County Public Schools will open 5 daycare sites on Thursday at

Drexel, Hildebran, Mountain View, Salem and WA Young elementary

schools. The sites will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for children ages

5 to 12 years. If your child is not currently enrolled in a Burke County

Public Schools daycare site, registration will be open and on site with

immediate services available. You also have flexibility in choosing your

site. Your child does not have to be enrolled in one of these schools to

attend daycare. There will be mandatory monitoring of students’ health

each day. BCPS will abide by the CDC recommendation and not keep not

more than 10 people in an area. This is a fluid situation and may change as

needs arise and are assessed. Also, Hillcrest Elementary has been added

as a feeding site seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit the

BCPS Website and social media sites for more information.

The Burke Senior Center in Morganton and the East Burke Senior Center

in Hildebran will be closed to the public effective Thursday thru March 31st

at which time they will evaluate the situation and determine if conditions

allow them to reopen. The Congregate Nutrition site in Valdese will close at

noon Friday until further notice. They will provide participants the option to

drive by and pickup a hot meal onsite at the Valdese location beginning

Monday. Home delivered meals will continue to be delivered by volunteers

and staff as long as possible. At this time, there are no changes to Meals On

Wheels for volunteers. Any changes will be posted on Facebook and website.

Effective Wednesday, some local non-essential surgeries, procedures, and ambulatory appointments will be re-scheduled.

Following the guidelines from the US Surgeon General and the American College of Surgeons, Atrium Health, Wake Forest Baptist Health and Novant Health will be communicating with their patients to reschedule these particular appointments.

Any emergency and essential services will continue though as scheduled.

Health officials say rescheduling the non-emergency procedures will minimize the risk of spreading coronavirus among patients, visitors, and health care providers.

They report it also allows each health care system to conserve critical resources and focus care on those that need it most.

NC Governor Cooper and members of the Coronavirus Task Force held a media briefing Tuesday announcing a new executive order- all restaurants and bars are closed as of 5 pm Tuesday for dine-in customers.

According to the restaurant’s particular policies, take out and delivery orders will continue.

Many local eateries are offering curbside pickup for take out orders.

The Governor’s executive order also includes an expansion of unemployment insurance to help NC workers affected by the closings.

According to the order, those who lose employment or have a reduction in hours because of the virus will not have to wait a week to apply for benefits, nor will they have to seek other employment during this time.

The state department of health and human services reports 40 people in NC have now tested positive for coronavirus.

Several western NC towns and counties have declared a state of emergency because of coronavirus concerns.

The city of Marion and McDowell County, the town of Weaverville and Mitchell County entered into a declaration Tuesday morning.

Governor Cooper previously declared a state of emergency for the entire state on March 10^th.

McDowell County Emergency Management has opened a non-emergency call center for questions concerning COVID-19.

The hotline number is 828-559-9683 with hours from 8 am until 8 pm.

Officials stress the hotline is for non-emergency information for the public concerning the virus; and as always if you have an emergency call 911.