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'Community spread' means virus can no longer be contained in NC, so officials just want to minimize it

North Carolina officials said Thursday that they have no idea how a person in Wilson County who tested positive for the new coronavirus was infected.

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By
Laura Leslie
, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina officials said Thursday that they have no idea how a person in Wilson County who tested positive for the new coronavirus was infected.

All previous cases of the virus in the state were either linked to travel to a hotspot or contact with another positive case. Now, the virus is spreading through the community through people who are infected but haven't been diagnosed.

The so-called "community spread" of the virus means the state is moving from trying to contain the outbreak to trying to limit its spread, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Cohen said public health officials always expected community spread to occur, which is why Gov. Roy Cooper first ordered North Carolina schools to close to at least two weeks and later banned dine-in service at bars and restaurants statewide.

Keeping people from gathering slows down community spread, Cohen said.

"[It's] all with the goal of flattening the curve. We need to lessen the number of people who get sick at the same time and avoid overwhelming our hospitals and health care system," she said. "Our goal is protecting you."

Cohen and other state leaders again asked people at high risk of contracting the illness – those age 65 and older, pregnant women and people with other health problems or weakened immune systems – to stay home. Officials aren't calling for a lockdown at this point, as some other places have, but they are asking everyone to take the outbreak seriously.
"I hope that all North Carolinians can heed our words now about social distancing and that we don't have to take further measures, but there are always things we will have to consider," Cohen said.

Most coronavirus patients will have a mild case and won't need medical care, she said, but anyone who thinks they might have it should call a doctor of the county health department first to arrange for testing.

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