ANSON COUNTY, N.C. — North Carolina is starting to emerge from its extreme COVID-19 surge. Average daily case increases are down 66% from their recent peak in early September. With roughly 1400 coronavirus patients in hospitals statewide, counts are down 63% over a similar period of time.
Health officials remind: the state still is not in the clear just yet. Out of 100 North Carolina counties, 83 are still in the CDC-designated "red" zone for COVID-19 spread.
However, a few counties are starting to drop into less dire tiers.
The transmission map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once showed solid red across North Carolina, denoting the highest tier of viral spread in every county. In recent days, that map is showing more pockets of orange and yellow counties, meaning substantial and moderate spread.
There is even one county in low spread, Hyde County.
In the Charlotte region, Ashe County is the sole county to drop out of the red zone, now designated an orange/substantial spread county. According to the CDC, Ashe County has a 6.4% test positivity rate and a case rate of 92 per every 100,000 residents.
Counties are no longer considered in high spread when their positivity rates drop below 10% and their per capita case rates are below 100.
North Carolina counties that are no longer in the high spread category:
- Alleghany County (substantial)
- Ashe County (substantial)
- Bladen County (substantial)
- Chatham County (substantial)
- Cherokee County (substantial)
- Clay County (substantial)
- Graham County (substantial)
- Lee County (substantial)
- New Hanover County (substantial)
- Northampton County (substantial)
- Orange County (substantial)
- Pamlico County (substantial)
- Pender County (substantial)
- Person County (substantial)
- Transylvania County (substantial)
- Nash County (moderate)
- Hyde County (low)
Contact Vanessa Ruffes at vruffes@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.