Triangle COVID-19 numbers improve; NC, for the first time, reports no ‘red’ counties
North Carolina updated its COVID-19 county alert system, and for the first time since the system was introduced, no counties in the state are red. In the Triangle, the new-case, cluster and outbreak counts are continuing to improve.
Since late last year, the state Department of Health and Human Services has used a color-coded system to indicate the severity of coronavirus spread in each county.
From worst to best, red is critical spread, orange is substantial and yellow is significant.
In the last report, which DHHS updates every other week, there were six red counties.
Wake, Durham and Orange counties are all yellow.
The state also introduced two new classifications: light yellow as moderate impact and green as low.
There is one green county, Alleghany, and there are 31 light yellow counties.
Outbreaks and clusters decrease in the Triangle
COVID-19 outbreaks and clusters have decreased over the last week across the Triangle, and the rate of new cases has gone down in Wake, Durham and Orange counties.
Though the new case totals do not include Friday as the state Department of Health and Human Services did not update coronavirus due to Good Friday, which is a state holiday.
In all three counties, DHHS reported 16 outbreaks and 15 clusters as of Tuesday, down from the 25 and 29 reported last week respectively.
DHHS defines an outbreak as two or more residents or staff members testing positive in a congregate living facility. It defines a cluster as five or more cases of the virus that can be plausibly linked together.
Wake County saw the largest decrease.
Outbreaks decreased from 17 to nine and clusters went down from 27 to 13.
Wake County outbreaks were reported at four nursing homes, four residential care facilities and one correctional facility, the Wake County Detention Center.
Outbreaks in Durham County went down from six to five and clusters stayed the same at one.
Four of the outbreaks are at nursing homes, and one is at a residential care facility, Eno Pointe Assisted Living. The lone cluster is at Bright Horizons Enrichment Center.
Orange County saw no changes in outbreaks or clusters with two and one reported respectively.
The cluster is at Knee High Preschool.
New cases reported over the last week went down in each county.
COVID-19 metrics reported over the past week in Wake, Durham and Orange counties can be found below.
Data reported by DHHS are preliminary and subject to change upon further investigation.
Wake County
- Total cases over pandemic: 80,734 (+1,175)
- New cases from previous week: 1,489
- Deaths: 684 (+7)
- People at least partially vaccinated: 295,104 (+31,628)
- People fully vaccinated: 185,426 (+24,296)
- Percent of positive tests in past two weeks: 5.2% (+.2%)
Durham County
- Total cases over pandemic: 23,221 (+299)
- New cases from previous week: 473
- Deaths: 215 (+3)
- People at least partially vaccinated: 94,794 (+7,867)
- People fully vaccinated: 65,486 (+7,211)
- Percent of positive tests in past two weeks: 5.1% (-.2%)
Orange County
- Total cases over pandemic: 8,092 (+86)
- New cases from previous week: 131
- Deaths: 101 (+1)
- People at least partially vaccinated: 51,489 (+4,057)
- People fully vaccinated: 35,872 (+3,838)
- Percent of positive tests in past two weeks: .7% (-.1%)
Deaths do not necessarily occur on the days they are reported. DHHS updates dates of death as information becomes available. Dates can potentially change weeks later as new information becomes available.