Yesterday afternoon, Governor Cooper (D-NC) ordered mandatory masks in some pulbic interactions:
BREAKING: Gov. Cooper issues statewide mask mandate, effective Friday, and announces #NorthCarolina will remain in Phase 2 "safer-at-home" for at least 3 more weeks. #wral
— WRALJoe Fisher (@JoeFisherTV) June 24, 2020
This is occurring in the context of consistent 8-10% positivity rate even as testing has increased for the past couple of weeks and a 55% increase in COVID related hospitalizations over the past thirty days.
The goal of the masking order is to slow community spread.
It is also a reminder of the lags that policy and behavior changes have before we see any potential change in trends.