Governor Roy Cooper concerned about recent spike in COVID-19 cases

North Carolina COVID-19 cases are on the rise and Governor Roy Cooper is concerned.

On Thursday, North Carolina showed it’s a third consecutive highest one-day number of coronavirus cases.

The new cases which are at 2,428 show that only a two-day report of high cases was in mid-July during the time the viral spread in the state was at its peak. The new cases have risen to 1,784 a day over the last week, the highest average since August 3, 2020.

During a press conference Tuesday, Governor Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen told North Carolinians that they were concerned about the rise in cases.

When you look at what’s happening and you see what’s happening across the country and know that we’re getting into the fall and winter, you remain concerned about – people really need to double-down and practice the ‘three W’s’ in order to slow the spread,” Cooper said.

Cohen said the virus will be given more opportunities to spread as people move around the state.

We are seeing this in our trends, which have moved in the wrong direction over the past week. Our cases have ticked up, as have the percent of tests that are positive and hospitalizations, Cohen said.

Twenty-nine deaths were reported on Thursday related to the coronavirus bringing the total statewide during the pandemic to 3,722.

North Carolina is currently in Phase 3 of its plan to reopen businesses and resume social activities during the pandemic, but Dr. Cohen said it is too early to link the growth of cases to this phase. This simply means, that at the time before making the decision to move into Phase 3, the pandemic team was not monitoring the virus in the state carefully.

It is unknown as to what is next for North Carolina.