The NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard has the most up-to-date information about COVID-19 cases and vaccines given across our health district. The cases, cases demographics, and vaccinations dashboards can all be viewed by county. For up-to-date information about COVID-19 cases around the world, check out the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Interactive Global Dashboard.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease that was identified in late 2019 and was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 is an international, national and North Carolina public health emergency. There are some common sense measures everyone can take to protect themselves and others from the spread of respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at a time.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are ill.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Do not reuse tissue after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently touched.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others.
• Monitor your health and be alert for symptoms.
• Put distance between yourself and other people outside of your home.

Symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, fatigue, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. The “Check My Symptoms” tool helps you check your symptoms online and, based on your answers, makes recommendations to you about COVID-19 testing.

The CDC recommends you stay home and separate yourself from other people in the home as much as possible if:

• You are sick with COVID-19
• You believe you might have it
• You think you might have COVID-19 and have mild symptoms

Before going to a health care provider, clinic, hospital or emergency room, call ahead to describe your symptoms and how you might have been exposed to the virus. In the event of an emergency, call 9-1-1.

 Helping people know if they have COVID-19 or may have been exposed is critical to ensuring they have the resources and support they need and informs when and how we can responsibly ease restrictions. You should get tested if you:

• have symptoms of COVID-19

• have been in close contact with a known positive case, regardless of symptoms

• are at higher risk of exposure or a higher risk of severe disease if they become infected. People in the following groups should get tested if they believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19, whether or not they have symptoms:

• People who live in or have regular contact with high-risk settings (e.g., long-term care facility, homeless shelter, correctional facility, migrant farmworker camp).
• People from historically marginalized populations who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. This fact sheet provides best practices for community testing in historically marginalized populations.
• Frontline and essential workers (grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, child care workers, construction sites, processing plants, etc.)
• Health care workers or first responders.
• People who are at higher risk of severe illness.
• have attended mass gatherings and could have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or could have exposed others.

Most people who get COVID-19 recover without needing medical care. If you are experiencing severe, life threating symptoms (for example, severe difficulty breathing, altered thinking, blue lips), seek immediate medical care or call 9-1-1.

For information about where to get tested, go to NC DHHS Find My Testing Place.