2 years, 2.6 million cases of COVID in NC
Thursday marks two years since the first COVID-19 case was detected in North Carolina.
On March 3, 2020, Gov. Roy Cooper said a man in Wake County tested positive for coronavirus after traveling to Washington state.
Within weeks, Cooper enforced various restrictions to slow the spread of the virus as the nation grappled with the initial stages of the confusing, highly contagious virus that changed daily life throughout the world.
Nearly 24 months and more than two million cases later In North Carolina, uncertainty remains about the virus' future impact, but case counts continue to generally decline after the delta and omicron variants caused surges in autumn and winter.
Even though most mask mandates are being lifted by area schools and municipalities, many counties in North Carolina are still experiencing high rates of viral transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"I was thinking it would be months," said Dr. David Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at UNC Health. "I didn't think was gonna be years."
"It's been very discouraging that we're still at this point dealing with it," echoed Dr. Trista Reid, also with UNC.
The original strain of the virus from Wuhan is extinct. Omicron remains the most prevalent in North Carolina, according to the latest DHHS surveillance report.
A breakdown by the numbers of COVID-19's impact in North Carolina reveals the scope of the impact in our state:
- On March 24, 2020, the first person died from the virus.
- There have been 2,592,991 COVID cases diagnosed in North Carolina over the two-year period, although the state health department says tens of thousands of those are re-infections – people who tested positive, recovered and tested positive again.
- Approximately 20 percent of North Carolinians have tested positive at some point for COVID-19.
- The CDC estimates 53% of children under 11 in North Carolina have had COVID and 52% of teens. They say only about 1 in every 5 cases in children were reported.
- The lowest incidence of COVID came in the oldest age group. Just 19% of those 65 and over have had it.
- 22,671 people have died from COVID in North Carolina, nearly the population of Clayton, and more than all the people who can fit in Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek.
- 25,836,761 tests for COVID have been taken in the past two years, almost 2.5 tests for every person in North Carolina.
- Wake County, the state's most populous county, has had the most COVID cases at 285,972.
- Tyrrell County has had the fewest cases at 967.
- Per capita, Stanley County has had the most cases, with Robeson County experiencing the second most.
- The lowest rates of COVID cases per population are Camden County, followed by Gates County.
- Mecklenburg County had the most deaths (1,547) linked to COVID, and Tyrrell County has had the fewest at just eight.
- Jan. 13, 2022, had the most cases reported in one day at 44,833 (though some were because of tests that hadn't been reported to DHHS previously).
- Jan. 18, 2022, marked our highest 7-day rolling average at 32,163.
On Thursday, North Carolina's number of new cases came in at 35 percent lower than a week ago and the state's positivity rate dipped below its goal of five percent, both positive developments. Roughly 71 percent of adults in the state are fully vaccinated against the virus.
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