CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina is headed into Memorial Day weekend with some of its lowest COVID-19 metrics of the entire pandemic. State health officials remain encouraged by the trends, which they believe are driven by rising vaccinations.
One of the main pandemic low points can be seen in the state's positivity rate.
Over the last two weeks, roughly 4% of all coronavirus tests statewide are finding an infection. That is a 2-week average rate never reported before in North Carolina.
Dr. Zack Moore, a state epidemiologist with North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services, attributes a lot of the success to vaccines and the teams working to make them as widespread and accessible as possible.
"That's really a testament to the effectiveness of vaccines," Moore said. "I hope people who haven't yet gotten the vaccine will see that progress and go ahead and do that."
The declining trends are present across the board.
"You can also see it in our case data, in our emergency department visits for COVID-like illness, in our hospitalizations. So, we're at a very encouraging point right now," Moore said.
In fact, just this week, average daily COVID-19 cases sunk below 1,000, a figure the state has not seen in almost a year.
According to NCDHHS data, more than 42% of the state population has at least one dose of vaccine and roughly 38% are fully protected.
However, demand is still slowing, with weekly vaccinations declining every week since the peak week reported in early April.
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