GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A Triad infectious disease expert said we’re going in the wrong direction.
In a press conference, Dr. Christopher Ohl with Wake Forest Baptist said our COVID-19 case numbers were declining, then plateaued, and now the cases are climbing again.
Dr. Ohl said he is particularly worried about Guilford County.
"In our area here, the counties that are really starting to climb into a worrisome level are Guilford County, particularly southern Guilford County, Davidson County and Randolph County to some extent."
Dr. Ohl said he believes we're seeing a spike in cases because of a lax Phase 3 attitude that we’re out of the woods when we’re not.
"Phase 3 does not mean it's over it just means we’re having a bit of an experiment in trying to open a few other things up compared to what they were," he explained. "We need to double down, we need to be vigilant."
He said rural areas are being hit the hardest currently.
"Unfortunately you don’t have to take much of a look around to know that people are stretching the rules a bit particularly in drinking establishments, restaurants, and bars," he stated. "We’re supposed to be at 30 percent capacity outdoors and nobody indoors."
But he said a lot of establishments aren't following those rules in the Governor's Executive Order, and the numbers reflect that.
"Am I worried about this? To tell you the truth, yeah, I mean we’re trying to get schools going and if cases are going up it's going to be harder to do that."