Chatham County has surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, North Carolina health officials announced on Wednesday.

The county is reporting 1,001 COVID-19 cases and 43 deaths from the virus as of July 8, up from 999 cases the day before.

Chatham County Commissioner Karen Howard joined 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck to discuss how the county has been handling the spread of the virus.

“As the state began to open up, I think the message people received was that it was safer, that we were emerging from that dangerous phase of the virus,” Howard said. “That was the absolute opposite of what was happening. As we lifted up some of the limitations, individuals needed to take greater personal responsibility for health and safety. That message gets lost.”

Neighboring Orange County has seen a spike in its coronavirus count. Coming out of the Fourth of July weekend, Orange County is reporting over 800 cases.

“There is more of a need to follow the Three W’s and limit our going out, to the extent that we’re able,” Howard said. “That’s not what’s happening and my concern is that we’re going to find ourselves at the time school should be opening and it simply won’t [be able to] happen.”

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services defines the Three W’s as “wear, wait, wash.”

  • Wear a cloth covering over your nose and mouth.
  • Wait 6 feet apart. Avoid close contact.
  • Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.

Last month, Governor Roy Cooper announced that North Carolina would extend Phase 2 of the state’s reopening as opposed to moving to Phase 3. He cited the rising number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations as the reason for not moving forward with reopening.

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