‘The worst perfect storm.’ How the second COVID surge is ravaging NC nursing homes.
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I started at The Charlotte Observer in October 2019. During my second week, I reported on City Council elections; during my fifth month, I was catapulted into covering a global pandemic, all while still trying to immerse myself in Charlotte and build strong source relationships with local officials. Suddenly, local government meetings turned dire: Transportation was no longer on the agenda — but possible stay-at-home and mask orders were, plus municipal budgets stretched thin under COVID's economic devastation. Despite the grueling pace of breaking news, it's been my privilege to keep the Charlotte community well informed; I've pushed for the release of public health data and interviewed countless epidemiologists all with a singular goal of providing readers the context they need to make it through a time of long-lasting uncertainty. In the story to the left, I chronicled a nursing home that managed to evade a coronavirus outbreak for nine months. But just weeks before the arrival of vaccines, infections ravaged Olde Knox Commons. Through interviews with nursing home staff, families and gerontologists, I aimed to capture the unique obstacles facing congregate care facilities — and humanize a population that spent the pandemic in unbearable lockdown. Read all my Charlotte Observer clips here. |
A racial divide plagues Charlotte's vaccine effort. This pharmacist is trying to help.
Within weeks of the first coronavirus case in Charlotte, it became painfully clear Black and brown communities were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. As health officials now struggle to vaccinate people of color, I wrote about a Black-owned pharmacy that's building trust and overcoming hesitancy. |
'Wave goodbye, they're all about to get gassed': CMPD planned tear gas attack, video shows
Days after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, peaceful demonstrators in Charlotte were cornered on an uptown street, as Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers deployed a barrage of chemical munitions. When police footage was released from the incident, I had just several hours to watch and analyze the clips and file the story under a tight print deadline. My reporting with colleagues — which placed second in breaking news from the North Carolina Press Association 2021 competition — showed this was a carefully coordinated attack, not an accident as police had previously described it. |
Where exactly do people get COVID-19 in Charlotte? For the most part, no one seems to know.
Contact tracing, marketed as a crucial tactic for slowing the spread of COVID-19, turned out to be riddled with problems for Charlotte area health departments — with many contending with ballooning infections tallies and reluctant residents who evaded case investigations. This piece blended together exclusive interviews and records requests to show why it became so burdensome to pinpoint where residents picked up the virus and spread it throughout the community.
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