Hospital officials who have spent months making sure their facilities have enough space, equipment and supplies for a spike in COVID-19 cases are worried now about having enough nurses to care for the influx of patients.
Cumberland County and the surrounding area have been seeing increases in COVID-19, which is caused by a highly infectious coronavirus. Hospitals in the region are dealing with the worst cases.
Statewide, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has nearly doubled in the past month. On Wednesday, 2,440 North Carolina residents were in hospitals because of the disease, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
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.