As businesses reopen and summer weather lures people into public spaces, health officials in North Carolina worry about the pandemic’s increasing toll on the population. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state topped 45,000 this week.
Hospitalizations are trending upward, and more than 1,100 people have died. Gov. Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen are reconsidering the move into Phase Three at the end of June. Host Frank Stasio talks with Liora Engel-Smith, a reporter for North Carolina Health News about making sense of the most recent numbers. Lisa Gralinksi, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also joins Stasio to discuss the state of testing and vaccines.