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The new rules follow Cooper's announcing Wednesday that an Orange County nursing home had <br /> at least 6o coronavirus cases and two deaths. By Friday, the count there had risen to 86 cases and <br /> three deaths. <br /> Orange County officials said Thursday 's announcement of the then-two deaths caught them by <br /> surprise. Efforts to get more information about that and related reporting issues from state and <br /> local officials left several questions unanswered. <br /> 4 oil <br /> 3 ! <br /> _ 41 <br /> � ra <br /> i <br /> 77 <br /> Health <br /> N.C. Governor Roy Cooper and state health director Dr. Mandy Cohen are asked about gaps in communicating <br /> outbreaks of coronavirus in nursing homes after an outbreak at a Chapel Hill facility. svwuN&TV <br /> REPORTING CONFUSION <br /> Kristin Prelipp, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Department, said the county <br /> learned about the then- 6o COVID -ig cases at PruittHealth- Carolina Point on Wednesday but only <br /> learned of the two deaths there when Cooper announced them at a news conference. <br /> "The reason that we didn't know about (the deaths) is because they were reported to Durham <br /> County," Prelipp said. " The state is the one who alerts the counties that one of their residents has <br /> passed or that one of their residents is positive for COVID -i9 ." <br /> The confusion stems in part from Carolina Point's location on the Durham-Orange county line, <br /> Prelipp said. While Orange County Environmental Health inspects the facility, Durham County <br /> works with its nurses, she said. <br /> In addition, each COVID -19 case is reported to the patient's home county, so if a Durham resident <br /> living in an Orange County nursing home is infected or dies, the state reports the case in Durham <br /> County, she said. <br /> But, if the two initial deaths were reported to Durham County, that's not reflected on the state's <br /> website, which as of Friday afternoon showed one death each in Durham and Orange counties. The <br /> Durham County death was reported Saturday, and the family of the woman who died told The <br /> News & Observer she was not a resident at Carolina Point. <br /> The Department of Health and Human Services did not return emails and phone calls from The <br /> News & Observer seeking clarification. <br /> Alecia Smith, a spokeswoman for the Durham County Health Department, said by email Thursday <br /> night that her department is working with Orange County and the state "to understand how <br />