By Sarah Krueger, WRAL Durham reporter, & Gilbert Baez, WRAL Fayetteville reporter
Hillsborough, N.C. — Three weeks after state health officials started cataloging the spread of coronavirus in individual counties through a color-coded alert system, only 18 of North Carolina's 100 counties remain in the lowest "yellow" zone, including Orange County.
While nearly half of the state is now in the "red" zone, with critical levels of viral spread and another third are rated "orange" with substantial spread, Orange County and the others still shaded in yellow on the map have managed to maintain better control of the virus locally as the number of infections and hospitalizations soar statewide.