RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Roy Cooper and North Carolina's health department secretary, Dr. Mandy Cohen, held a briefing Thursday to encourage people to get vaccinated to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
Thursday, the state health department added 3,268 newly reported cases to its daily dashboard. Cohen said the last time the state reported more than 3,000 cases in 24 hours was back in February.
Both Cooper and Cohen warned that coronavirus trends were headed steeply and quickly in the wrong direction.
"Unvaccinated people are driving this resurgence, and getting themselves and other people sick," Cooper wrote. "If you are not vaccinated, you are at great risk."
The state's guidance right now is that schools should require all students and staff to wear face masks for in-person classes. However, that's not a rule; it's technically up to each school division.
The state's mask mandate is still set to expire on Friday, July 30. Cooper said people knew how to choose to behave if they wanted to slow the spread of the virus.
Cooper applauded the companies that have required COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees. He's requiring members of his state cabinet to be vaccinated, or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.
"Right now, being a good corporate citizen means getting your people vaccinated," he said. "Our economy depends on it."
Here are the latest vaccination rates for North Carolina:
- The population of North Carolinians ages 12 and up is 55% fully vaccinated
- The population of North Carolinians ages 18 and up is 57% fully vaccinated
- The population of North Carolinians ages 65 and up is 84% fully vaccinated
Cohen said most of the people who were hospitalized for serious cases of COVID-19 were not vaccinated.
She went over the latest coronavirus trends for the Tar Heel state.
- Trajectory of people coming to hospitals with COVID-like symptoms: increasing
- Trajectory of new cases: increasing rapidly
- Trajectory of the percentage of tests coming back positive: increasing
- Trajectory of day-over-day hospitalizations: increasing rapidly
Cohen said the Delta variant was much more contagious than versions of the virus the state fought earlier in the pandemic.
On average, Cohen said one person sick with the Delta variant would infect six other people: particularly, unvaccinated people.
Hospitalizations have more than doubled in the last two weeks, which she said was the fastest increase North Carolina has seen since the pandemic began. Almost all people who are being hospitalized for COVID-19 now are unvaccinated, and many are in the 50-59 age group.
"If you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, I urge you to do so now," she said.
"Clinical trials have proven that vaccines are safe and effective."
Cooper agreed. He acknowledged people who have been listening to COVID-19 guidelines about masks, social distancing, and cleanliness for more than a year, and were frustrated to see the state backslide.
The governor said he hoped the state would be past this stage by now, too.
Above all, Cooper asked people to get their shots.
"Do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it for kids under 12 who can’t get a vaccine yet," he said. "Do it today."
