Here are the numbers for the week of November 2:

  • As of Nov. 2, there are 246,318 North Carolinians presumed to be recovered from COVID-19
  • Less than one-tenth (9.8%) of NC’s total case count constantly trumpeted by the Cooper administration and media are active cases (note: a case of COVID isn’t a permanent infection, and only someone with an active case of the virus can conceivably transmit it to you)
  • Active cases represent just 0.26% (over two-tenths of one percent) of NC’s population (note: active cases are lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 minus recoveries and deaths)
  • Nearly nine out of every ten (88.6%) of NC’s total cases are recovered, meaning they are no longer infectious
  • Only 0.04% of people in NC have died with COVID-19 (regardless of the actual cause of death)
  • 97.3% of people in NC have never had a lab-confirmed case of COVID-19 (note: this proportion will always decline, but we have been living with this virus since February, as far as testing is concerned)
  • All considered, 99.7% of people in NC pose no threat of passing along COVID-19 to anyone — a virus most have never had and the rest have recovered from (note: this proportion will fluctuate based on the relative growth in lab-confirmed cases vs. recoveries) (side note: this proportion is likely understated because NC’s population has continued to grow since July)

For a full discussion of why I provide these numbers, see my brief on “Why We Need the NC Threat-Free Index.”