Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos announced April 1 that its COVID-19-induced closure would extend through the end of the month, and that same day Principal Chief Richard Sneed issued his own announcements about changes to compensation for tribal employees in the weeks ahead.

Macon County Public Health received notice on late Wednesday evening, April 8, 2020, that a second Macon County resident has tested positive for COVID–19.

As COVID-19 protocols began taking effect in the Asheville area, registered nurses in a primary care residency and fellows program at Western Carolina University made a quick shift to assist an at-risk population while still continuing their training.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is providing financial assistance to help essential workers afford child care and bonuses to child care teachers and staff who provide care during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Mountain BizWorks, working with Dogwood Health Trust, announced today a targeted effort to provide increased access to the highly anticipated Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program for nonprofits and small businesses in the region, with a focus on rural and minority and women-led organizations.

Distance learning will continue through the summer at Western Carolina University, and all summer conferences are canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Jerry DeWeese • Guest Columnist | When in grade school, I wondered why my teachers spent so much time teaching history. What did it matter? This was old news. Now that I have reached “old age” status, I recognize that history is full of lessons and it repeats itself. If we pay attention, today’s society may be able to avoid making the same mistakes we learned about in history class.

Growing up, my family spent the week of Easter at Ocean Lakes Campground in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We had a little blue and white camper on Sharks Tooth Trail a few streets back from the ocean. Easter typically fell around our county’s spring break, so once that final school bell rang, we packed up our van and headed south. 

Of late, many businesses and individuals have been forced to re-evaluate how they do things, but municipal governments are also grappling with governing in the age of social distancing and the “stay home” orders part and parcel to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Lost in the struggle to combat the Coronavirus Pandemic is the fact that local governments have already begun incurring unanticipated costs related to COVID-19 response.