in the orange zone, signaling “substantial” levels of community spread, according to the statewide Covid-19 County Alert System. Meanwhile, Pender County moved from orange to the “critical” red zone due to its alarming high case and percent positivity rates. However, the impact on the hospitals in all three counties is considered low, according to the report. The alert system considers a variety of factors at hospitals, from staffing shortages to the number of emergency room visits, as well as the counties’ number of new cases and the percent positivity rates when making designations. As Covid-19 numbers have picked up in the midst of colder months and increasingly common gatherings over the holidays, just eight of North Carolina’s 100 counties remain in the yellow zone, the lowest level of spread in the three-tier reporting system.