North Carolina gets an F in social distancing, data show. These counties are the worst
North Carolina received a failing grade in social distancing, a study found.
The study, done by Unacast, gives each state and the country a grade of A through F, which is updated daily based on three different metrics of social distancing analyzed using location data. North Carolina was one of the nine states to get an F grade on Wednesday.
Social distancing has been cited as a way to slow the spread of COVID-19, with experts urging people to stay at least 6 feet apart when out in public.
North Carolina residents have been under a stay-at-home order since late March; some businesses have been ordered to close; and other measures to enforce social distancing have been implemented.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the state had more than 10,000 confirmed cases and 379 deaths, according to The News & Observer’s count, which includes data from state and county health departments.
But North Carolinians still haven’t been practicing social distancing like they should, the study suggests.
The three factors analyzed in the study were reduction in average mobility, reduction in non-essential visits and decrease in human encounters.
The state saw a 25 to 40% reduction in average mobility, earning it a D grade. It had less than 55% reduction in non-essential visits and a less than 40% decrease in encounters, earning F’s in both categories.
Some counties in the state fared better than others. None got an A, but five received a B or B-.
Tyrrell County came out on top, the study found. The county is the least populous in the state as of the most recent census data and has only reported four cases of the coronavirus.
Other counties that got a B or B- were Camden, Warren, Hyde and Gates counties. All are among the lesser-populated, more rural counties in the state and all had less than 10 reported cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday.
Of the state’s 100 counties, 39 received an F.
They include: Guilford, Burke, Wilson, Alexander, Gaston, Iredell, Henderson, Buncombe, Wilkes, Rowan, Cumberland, Onslow, Pasquotank, Forsyth, Cabarrus, Union, Johnston, Catawba, Alamance, Wayne, Nash, Caldwell, Haywood, Brunswick, Lincoln, Richmond, McDowell, Davie, Rutherford, Randolph, Surry, Cleveland, Scotland, Stanly, Lee, Davidson, Harnett, Lenoir and Rockingham.
The list includes a mix of more populated and rural counties in the state, but many, including Guilford, Buncombe, Forsyth and Cumberland, are among the states most populated.
Rockingham County, which ranked last, has a population of about 91,000 per census data. The county had 25 reported cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, which is 2.75 per 10,000.
The other counties that ranked in the bottom five, Lee, Davidson, Harnett and Lenoir , all have more than 100 reported COVID-19 cases, with the exception of Lenoir, which has 60.
The state’s two most populated counties, Mecklenburg and Wake both received a D.
Measuring social distancing isn’t necessarily one size fits all, as the baseline in rural areas is much lower than in heavily populated areas, the study says. So researchers incorporated the human encounters metric to grade by absolute values instead of change.
“What matters is how many people were in the same place at the same time, regardless of how much it changed from the past,” the study says.
Most of the states that received an F grade were concentrated in the Southeast. Georgia came out on the bottom, behind South Carolina and North Carolina. Nevada received the best grade, a B-.
Overall, the country scored a D.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 6:56 PM.
