North Carolina law requires all persons to comply with communicable disease control measures prescribed by the Commission for Public Health, an administrative rule-making body. G.S. 130A-144(f). If a person fails to comply with required control measures, public health officials may … Read more

Trafficking, like health disparities, targets marginalized groups.  The equation of human trafficking involves three types of participants: People who are vulnerable People who arrange and profit from the trafficking People who are customers The Covid-19 pandemic is generating new vulnerabilities … Read more

On May 4, changes to North Carolina’s communicable disease confidentiality law went into effect, including important modifications to the parts of the law that permit information to be released to law enforcement officials. Amendments to G.S. 130A-143 were included in … Read more

On Wednesday, my colleague Diane Juffras published What to Do When an Employee is Infected with or Reports Exposure to COVID-19. She addressed a number of important issues, from the leave that must be provided to employees, to the actions … Read more

I have been on a quixotic mission to try to get people not to use the word “quarantine” to refer to the stay-at-home orders that have been issued in North Carolina and elsewhere. I’ve lost this argument in popular culture, … Read more

The first case of COVID-19 in North Carolina was announced on March 3. By April 9, the state was reporting over 3500 cases and 65 deaths from the disease. Rapid spread of a new communicable disease is a historic and … Read more

Understandably, COVID-19 has certainly slowed the demand for short-term rentals (STRs). In fact, at least one county in North Carolina has prohibited STR operators from renting their properties to out-of-county and out-of-state guests while the state is under the stay-at-home … Read more

UPDATE (May 13, 2020): On May 4, changes to North Carolina’s communicable disease confidentiality law went into effect, including important modifications to the parts of the law that permit information to be released to law enforcement officials. Please see this … Read more

Even in ordinary times, and especially during times of emergency, no single organization has all the power, resources, or authority required to solve a public problem. Right now, local governments are hard at work developing community-specific responses in keeping with … Read more

As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to unfold in the U.S. and around the world, the media and scholars are increasingly talking about isolation, quarantine, and social distancing. Sometimes the words are used as if they are interchangeable, but they’re not: … Read more