Wake County coronavirus cases reach triple digits as county issues stay-at-home order
Wake County saw its number of reported coronavirus cases reach triple digits early Thursday afternoon.
In a news conference announcing a stay-at-home order, the county reported that it had 100 positive cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus. By Thursday evening that number had increased to 105 cases. That is an increase of 21 since Wednesday night.
The case counts don’t give a full picture of how widespread COVID-19 is in North Carolina or any other state, Zack Moore, the state’s epidemiologist, has said. A number of cases are considered community spread, which means that the person infected does not know how or when they were infected.
Moore also said the gap between the counts and reality will only grow as the virus becomes more widespread.
Wake County has said that it will no longer test people with mild symptoms, and will reserve tests only for people 65 and older, people with underlying health issues, first responders and health care workers.
The county’s stay-at-home order will go into effect on Friday at 5 p.m. All 12 Wake County towns and cities signed off on the order. Wake County’s order limits movement outside people’s homes except for essential jobs and tasks, mostly related to health and food. It will remain in effect until April 17 but could be revised.
Mecklenburg County, the city of Durham and Orange County have also issued stay-at-home orders.
The state has reported more than 700 positive cases in more than half of its 100 counties. The average age of people infected is 41 years old, state health director Dr. Elizabeth Tilson said Thursday.
The state has reported three deaths, including two state residents.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Wake County coronavirus cases reach triple digits as county issues stay-at-home order."
