After students and staff were exposed to positive cases of COVID-19, Macon County Board of Education decided to suspend face-to-face instruction at Union Academy, Mountain View Intermediate School and Macon Middle School beginning Aug. 26 through Sept. 11.

Pay for Macon County employees is constantly on the mind of Macon County Manager Derek Roland, and every year putting together the county budget is a balancing act between protecting taxpayer dollars and providing adequate pay for the county’s more than 300 employees.

Parents of Macon County students will have to choose their child’s learning plan for fall semester by July 31. 

As of June 30, North Carolina had 64,670 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The death toll is now over 1,300 and 908 people are currently hospitalized. 

Seven counties in Western North Carolina have the opportunity to band together and receive money for affordable housing through the Southwestern Commission. As of June 15, several counties have signed on to make up the Southwestern NC HOME Consortium. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Macon County Economic Development Commission has established the Reopening Macon Fund. The program, funded by a $257,500 appropriation from the Macon County Board of Commissioners, will provide low-interest loans to severely impacted small businesses in Macon County, helping them to remain open. 

Macon County has seen the largest spike in COVID-19 cases recently, with 230 confirmed cases as of June 15.

Updated 6/4/20: Macon County now has 109 positive COVID-19 cases, 94 of those are active.

Macon County has seen a surge in positive COVID-19 cases within the last week as two clusters were identified and testing capabilities increased.

When Macon County officials started their 2020-21 budget process back in early February, COVID-19 was barely a blip on their radar. 

On May 24, Macon County Public Health announced a cluster of cases centered around the Evangelical Ebenezer Church. As of press time on May 26, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services had reported 18 cases in Macon County, up from four cases May 15. One Macon resident died from the disease, reported April 6.