When almost everyone is 'essential' (free version)
Plus: Charlotte developer opens up about coronavirus test; Layoffs pile up; Cam Newton released; One thing you should not do on a video chat
Today is Wednesday, March 25, 2020. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C. If you like what we do, tell a friend.
Editor’s note: This is a shorter, free version of The Charlotte Ledger sent to people on our free sign-up list. The complete version for paying subscribers went out 15 minutes ago. It included a full analysis of Mecklenburg’s new “stay at home” order, a look at the effect of the coronavirus on a women’s shelter in Huntersville and advice on media consumption from the chairman of Atrium Health’s psychiatry department.
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Analysis: ‘Stay at home’ order sounds robust, but it’s filled with loopholes; you can still golf and go to the pawn shop
“Essential” activities such as golf are protected under Mecklenburg’s new “stay at home” order. (Photo courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
A “stay at home” order sounds like a decisive step in the fight against the coronavirus.
But Mecklenburg County’s order issued Tuesday doesn’t actually require you to stay at home.
As local residents and businesses scrambled to the internet on Tuesday afternoon to read the 16-page order, some took comfort that it seems filled with loopholes that will allow most of us who are being responsible to mostly continue with our new socially distanced lifestyles.
To be sure, the order will have actual effects. It will restrict some businesses, give police power to bust up groups of more than 10 people and put the force of law behind what are now mere recommendations. The county is also discouraging residents from visiting friends or family if there is no urgent need.
But its real power might be as a marketing document. Everybody by now has seen the headlines that the county has ordered everybody to stay at home. More complicated, and probably less understood, is the reality that there are many, many exceptions that blow huge holes in the idea that you can’t leave the house.
The full article is available to paying subscribers.
Atrium and Novant: ‘We have hours, not days’
In an addendum to Mecklenburg’s order, Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods and Novant Health CEO Carl Armato signed a joint letter urging the county to adopt a “stay at home” order:
Our predictive models show that we have hours, not days, to help flatten the curve in a way that does not overwhelm critical service. Each hour that passes, more and more residents are coming into contact with others, and the virus continues to spread rapidly. Mecklenburg County has a chance to curb the spread of COVID-19 by taking action now.
The letter is dated Monday.
Two weeks after feeling ill, a Charlotte developer gets his test result
Clay Grubb first sensed something was off on a Wednesday, March 4. Grubb, a Charlotte real estate developer and the CEO of Grubb Properties, was on a trip to Southern California and was heading to dinner with some colleagues. But he felt weak and dehydrated.
He showed up at the restaurant — an Italian restaurant, as he recalls. But he didn’t last long. He excused himself early and returned to his hotel.
Those sound like ordinary moments: a trip, heading to dinner, feeling ill. But it turned out to be the start of a seesaw between sickness and wellness, punctuated by visits to the doctor and culminating two weeks later with a positive test result for the coronavirus. Today, Grubb, 52, says he feels great and is no longer contagious. He agreed to share his story with The Ledger to combat what he says is misunderstanding and misinformation about the disease and how it spreads and is treated.
The night after the dinner that was cut short, Grubb flew back to Charlotte, on Thursday morning, March 5. He had a meeting that afternoon but still wasn’t feeling his best.
“The gentleman I was meeting with looked at me, and the first thing he said when we met was, ‘How do you know you don’t have the coronavirus?’” Grubb recalls. “I said, ‘I don’t.’” They found a bottle of Purell. “We both used a lot of hand sanitizer and kept our distance.”
By that Friday morning, Grubb had developed a fever, though it was never higher than 99.7. He went to his doctor uptown. They gave him a strep test and a flu test, and both came back negative. They downplayed the possibility that it was coronavirus: “They said, ‘Oh, we don’t think it’s that, and we don’t have access to the test anyway.’”
Just to be safe, Grubb spent the weekend isolating himself up by High Rock Lake, outside Salisbury. “Everybody I talked to was convinced there was no way I had it.”
His fever broke over the weekend, and after it was gone for 24 hours, he went back to work Monday.
By Tuesday, he was starting to develop a cold: congestion with a little coughing. It worsened throughout the week, so on Friday, the 13th, he called his doctor again. “She said, ‘We do have access to the test now. If you want one, you can come have one.’ I was like, ‘Well, I’d definitely like that one, just to know.” He took additional strep and flu tests, then the COVID-19 test, which required them to swab his nostrils with a Q-tip.
“The nurses are like, ‘Well, why are you back? Why are you doing it?’ I was like, ‘Well, you know it’s funny — I feel like I need to know,” he says.
Five days later, on the 18th, he felt normal — good enough to go mountain biking at Sherman Branch Park off Albemarle Road in east Charlotte. At 5:32 p.m., he checked his phone. He had a text that read: “Congratulations, you have the Coronavirus, call asap.” From there came conversations with his doctor and the health department, which determined he was no longer contagious, since it had been more than a week since he was sick.
“At that point, it was freaky,” Grubb says, “but at the same time, it was so frustrating that maybe I got other people sick. So you’re really concerned and upset about it from that standpoint.”
He says it’s “completely inexcusable” that he had to wait until the 18th to find out he had had the coronavirus, when if there were enough tests, he could have taken one on the 6th and found out more quickly before potentially exposing others.
He posted some of the details of his experience on LinkedIn on Saturday night. He says he is sharing his experience to combat some of the misinformation that is circling about the virus.
“There’s a lot of really bad information out there. It’s scary,” he says. “People are acting like this virus defies the laws of physics and will pass through time and Plexiglas and get people sick. That’s not the case. If you’re careful about washing your hands, if you’re careful about keeping your distance, you have a 99% chance that you’re going to be safe. … It’s important for people to understand what they need to do but also not freak out.”
The Ledger is able to boost its coverage of the local effects of the coronavirus because of the support of sponsors and paying subscribers. Your support helps build better original, local news in Charlotte.
In brief
Cam released: “It’s official. The Panthers have moved on from quarterback Cam Newton after nine years, officially releasing him Tuesday.” (Observer)
Court case namesake dies: Darius Swann, who sued Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in the landmark Supreme Court busing case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, died at age 95. (Observer)
Job losses: Layoff notices are starting to stream into the state. From Mecklenburg, big recent layoffs include HMSHost at the airport (815 workers), the Hilton Charlotte Center City (162 workers) and the Rusty Bucket restaurant (65 workers). Expect more. (NC Commerce)
No door-to-door coronavirus tests: N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein warned consumers to be on the lookout for scammers selling coronavirus tests door-to-door. “Residents should be skeptical of high-pressure sales tactics not only for the tests but also for items such as hand sanitizer, face masks and cleaning supplies.” (WFAE)
Loves me some internet: What not to do on a video conference
Poor Jennifer!
Programming notes:
“Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins” this morning will feature a segment with County Manager Dena Diorio discussing the county’s new “stay at home” order, followed by a panel of local business journalists discussing the local economic fallout of the coronavirus: The Ledger’s Tony Mecia, Charlotte Agenda’s Katie Peralta and the Charlotte Observer’s Danielle Chemtob. Three small business owners will also participate, including Frank Scibelli, CEO of FS Food Group. It’s at 9 a.m. on 90.7 WFAE and available online.
Ledger editor Tony Mecia appears as a guest on 90.7 WFAE at 6:40 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. on Thursdays for a discussion of the week’s local business news in the station’s “BizWorthy” segment. Audio and transcripts are also available online.
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The Charlotte Ledger is an e-newsletter and web site publishing timely, informative, and interesting local business news and analysis Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, except holidays and as noted. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing, or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
Editor: Tony Mecia; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire