March 3, 2020: It was the day we learned about the first confirmed Covid-19 cases in our state, and life has been a day that has changed forever.
Strange words suddenly became part of our daily lexicon: social distancing. Flat the curve.
I wore a mask for my daily tasks. Many have stopped hugging families who do not live in the same household.
Soon the schools and church sanctuaries were empty. So did our sidewalks, restaurants and streets. A certain loneliness is set, sadness.
On March 3, 2020, Gov. Roy Cooper said a Wake County man had tested positive for the coronavirus. It was the first case of a new illness in North Carolina.
The patient recently traveled to Washington State and was exposed to a long-term care facility that reported numerous cases of the coronavirus. The Wake County patient traveled to Raleigh-Durham International Airport on February 22, 2020, airport officials said.
At the time, nine people died of illnesses in Washington state in the Seattle area. Washington state officials had reported 27 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
Of the first North Carolinians, the virus claimed to be an employee of Raleigh City, a man in his mid-30s named Adrian Grubbs.
“This all happened very quickly,” his wife told us.
She said he was a beloved husband and devoted father.
Since then, more than 34,000 people in our state have died from the virus. From January 1, 2020 to September 9, 2023 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Report 34,265 North Carolina people have died in Covid.
