COVID-19 Update  

Burke County Public Health on Sunday reported 5-thousand-513

positive cases of COVID-19, up 127 from Friday’s briefing. Active cases

number 1-thousand-157, with 17 Burke residents hospitalized.

In Catawba County, there were 133 new virus cases reported yesterday

for a current total of 10-thousand-164, with 96 people hospitalized.

Caldwell County on Saturday reported 124 additional cases of coronavirus

for a new total of 5-thousand-28, with 48 patients hospitalized.

McDowell County on Friday reported 46 new cases of COVID-19 for a

total of 2-thousand-503, with 381 McDowell residents in quarantine.

DOT Holiday Changes 

NCDOT has suspended most construction activity along its major

highways to keep lanes open for those traveling through the holidays.

The work is shut down from now through the evening of December 29^th

and again from the morning of December 31^st through the evening of

January 5^th.

Also, as part of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, more local and

local law enforcement officers will patrol day and night to catch impaired

drivers behind the wheel throughout the holidays. The annual ‘Boose It

& Lose It’ campaign runs now through January 5^th.

Prison for Conover Man  

A Catawba County was sentenced Friday in federal court for child

pornography. 46-year-old Darren Eugene Matthews of Conover will

serve 78 months in prison, and was ordered to serve a lifetime of

supervised release and to register as a sex offender upon completion

of his prison term.