Durham reports new coronavirus cases as city’s ‘stay-at-home’ order goes into effect
Durham County on Thursday reported nine new cases of COVID-19, increasing its total number of cases to 93.
The case counts don’t give a full picture of how widespread the coronavirus 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.
Durham mayor Steve Schewel issued a “stay-at-home” order for the city Wednesday, which went into effect Thursday at 6 p.m.
The order limits movement outside people’s homes except for essential jobs and tasks, mostly related to health and food, The News & Observer reported. It will remain in effect until April 30 but could be revised.
Durham County will issue a similar order Friday after a meeting to revise the county’s emergency rules for the unincorporated parts of the county, which includes most of Research Triangle Park and Treyburn Corporate Park.
A number of Durham’s cases include Duke University students, The News & Observer has reported. Nearly all of those students had recently traveled abroad and were quarantined in their off-campus homes.
The Duke students were told to leave their dorms and stay off campus while the school switched to online courses for the rest of the semester.
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. She also said there were 50 hospitalizations and 15,000 test pending.
The state has reported three deaths, including two state residents.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 6:34 PM.
