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| PUBLISHED ONLINE APRIL 17, 2020 • VOL. 2, NO. 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stories and photos by Wingate Lassiter unless otherwise noted (click highlighted link to e-mail the editor) |
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| CORONAVIRUS
UPDATE: Johnston has 118 cases, with 9 deaths; number hospitalized holding stable at 9 The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported this morning (Friday) that Johnston County has 118 confirmed coronavirus cases --- up from 104 earlier this week. The County of Johnston reported 9 deaths as of Thursday afternoon. While the number of cases here has continued to rise, the number of Johnstonians hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment has remained at 9 since the first of the week. Statewide, almost 73,000 residents have been tested for the virus --- and more than 3.4 million nationwide. The County of Johnston has not been releasing local information about testing. The county issued the following coronavirus data at 5:45 p.m. Thursday: • 113 confirmed cases; 9 hospitalized, 95 at home, 9 deaths (all age 65+). • 64% of cases female (72) and 36% male (41 cases). • Cases by age: 6 ages 18-24; 28 ages 25-49; 31 ages 50-64; 48 ages 65+. • Cases by race: 72 white, 36 black, 4 "unknown," and 1 "other." The number of cases associated with Clayton's Springbrook Rehabilitation & Nursing Center is now up to 62 --- 43 current or former residents, including 7 deaths; 12 staff who reside in Johnston County; 7 staff who reside in other counties. Here are the coronavirus numbers for Johnston and neighboring Wake County as well as all of North Carolina, the nation, and the world --- along with links to a couple of reporting agencies where the latest updates may be viewed:
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 Photo
from Johnston Health
Patient-care assistants Amaya Swann and Alaina Radcliff and certified nursing assistant Melody Sanders (left to right) pick up their free lunches, courtesy of Wilson Praise and Worship, which brought in four food trucks to serve meals to about 450 employees at Johnston Health's Smithfield hospital on Thursday. It was the latest of several such acts of generosity by businesses and organizations over the past couple of weeks to thank front-line health-care workers for battling the coronavirus. Johnston Health has room for patients, with 8 of 17 ventilators in use most days Unlike stressed urban areas such as New York City, hospitals at Smithfield and Clayton operated by UNC Johnston Health continue to operate well within their 199-bed capacity during the coronavirus pandemic. And unlike those unfortunate cities, Johnston's hospitals have sufficient ventilators to treat coronavirus patients experiencing severe respiratory distress. "We have 17 standard ventilators, and on any given day we have about eight of those in use," reported Johnston Health's interim CEO Tom Williams earlier this week. "If we do have a surge in patients, we have the ability to also deploy transport vents and anesthesia machines," Mr. Williams continued. "We also track ventilators across the UNC system with a daily dashboard of use. This will allow us to re-deploy vents to areas of need if one hospital is hit harder than another." Mr. Williams said Johnston Health is caring for its COVID-19 patients in the two hospitals' Intensive Care Units, "and we have created an additional unit of negative-pressure rooms that allow for patients who are awaiting testing results and are too sick to stay at home." MORE information, including how you can help, on Johnston Health's website> |
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| Smithfield Council will begin work on a new budget via conference call The Smithfield Town Council has scheduled a special session for 6 p.m. next Thursday (April 23) --- via conference call --- to begin deliberations leading to a new town budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year that begins July 1. A budget draft is included in details of the meeting's agenda posted online> Next Thursday's agenda also includes an item postponed from the council's regular monthly session last week: consideration of a contractor's proposal for construction of a Splash Pad at Smith-Collins Park. To access next week's Town Council meeting by telephone, dial 919-391-3517 or 1-800-719-7514 and enter conference code 808829 when prompted. |
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 MEN AT WORK DESPITE THE CORONAVIRUS MESS Contracted linemen with Carolina Power & Signalization were at work Thursday on upgrades to the Town of Smithfield's electrical system as part of a project to expand service to the North Circuit for development associated with the new Durwood Stephenson Parkway. Town Manager Mike Scott said this year's town budget earmarks $950,000 for the work, with another $120,000 to be budgeted in the year ahead to complete it. This Saturday, by the way, is national Electrical Lineman Appreciation Day --- an observance proclaimed locally by the Town Council. |
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School board halfway through interviews with seven candidates for superintendent After a closed session more than three hours long on Tuesday and another lasting five hours on Wednesday, the Johnston County Board of Education has two more sessions scheduled next week to finish interviewing finalists for Superintendent of Schools. "We have interviewed four of the seven candidates so far," school board chairman Todd Sutton reported. "We have interviews set up for next Tuesday and Wednesday night. Once we have completed all of the interviews we will narrow the search down to three finalists." The board's goal is to employ a new superintendent by July 1 --- before the start of a new school year. In the meantime, Assistant Superintendent Ben Williams is serving as interim CEO. |
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 BOARDED UP FOR AN ONCOMING STORM? The plywood covering the windows of a store at Carolina Premium Outlets creates a scene we'd expect to see when there's a hurricane heading our way. But this time the storm could turn out to be economic calamity rather than destructive windpower. Unlike a hurricane, the coronavirus threat is invisible, so we're not sure how to make preparations for whatever damage may befall us. READ MORE about the pandemic's potential local impact on OBSERVATIONS> |
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DEATHS & FUNERALS Each week we post links to obituaries about persons who have died during the past week. We monitor the websites of local funeral homes to compile our list, and we welcome links provided by readers to obituaries of persons with Smithfield connections who have died outside our immediate area.... JOHN PERSHING LEE JR., 63 - died April 13 JOE ONNIE EDWARDS JR., 69 - died April 13 JAMES WILLIAM (JIMMY) HUGHES JR., 61 - died April 13 |
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS  SMITHFIELD'S FIRST HOSPITAL, c. 1920 This grainy photograph, copied from a booklet promoting the town a hundred years ago, shows the residential-style structure that was built as Smithfield Memorial Hospital around 1920. It stood at the southeast corner of Second and Bridge streets and was later used as a boarding house and residence until its demolition some years ago to make way for a parking lot. Smithfield Memorial was replaced in 1930 by Johnston County Hospital in a brick structure that stands today as part of the county's Department of Social Services complex. That hospital was replaced in late 1951 by Johnston Memorial Hospital, which has evolved into present-day UNC Johnston Health Smithfield. (Photo from the Johnston County Heritage Center.) |
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LINKS TO ADDITIONAL PAGES OBSERVATIONS |
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