750,000 could be infected in NC by June 1 if all social distancing stops @ the end of April

Spread the Word!  For those who are already getting tired of social distancing re: COVID 19,  yesterday Secretary Mandy Cohen  provided a sobering wake up call.   This press released published by the NC DHHS highlights that:

If all social distancing were to stop at the end of April, the model estimates that roughly 750,000 North Carolinians could be infected by June 1.  On the other hand, if some form of effective social distancing remains in place after April, that number is lowered by half a million to an estimated 250,000 people. That’s because social distancing lowers the number of people that one person will infect.”

Today’s composite model found that social distancing policies with effectiveness similar to those currently in place in North Carolina will help lower the likelihood of the healthcare system becoming overloaded with a spike of many COVID-19 patients all at the same time. However, ending all social distancing at the end of April leads to a “greater than 50 percent probability that acute care and ICU bed capacity will be outstripped… as soon as Memorial Day.”

Additionally, this article released by the News & Observer yesterday evening notes that:

At least 3,000 lab-confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in North Carolina — a jump of 1,000 cases in just four days.

The state saw its first confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on March 3. It took 25 days to rise to 1,000 confirmed cases, then eight more days to cross the 2,000-case threshold on April 2. From there, it took four days to jump from 2,000 to 3,000 cases, and 48 deaths.  To put it another way, North Carolina took four weeks to reach 1,500 confirmed cases and six days to double that by reaching 3,000 cases

Learn more @ ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus