North Carolina Has Another Death As More Local Orders Begin

North Carolina health officials reported another death related to the new coronavirus Friday, as more local governments prepared to clamp down further on residents' movements.

The death of a Johnston County resident on Thursday brings the number of deaths reported by the state Department of Health and Human Services to three. The patient, in their mid-60s, had underlying medical conditions, Johnston County said in a news release. Cabarrus and Harnett county residents also have died. A fourth person from Virginia who died of COVID-19 complications in North Carolina is not in the state's official count.

DHHS reported more than 760 positive COVID-19 cases statewide as of Friday morning, 125 more than Thursday's tally. More than 200 of the cases are in Mecklenburg County and over 100 in Wake County. More than 75 people are hospitalized statewide, according to the department.

Wake County's 1.1 million residents will be under a stay-at-home order starting late Friday afternoon through mid-April in an attempt to blunt the virus' spread, particularly to higher-risk residents. Nearby Orange County also begins an order Friday.

Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, began a similar order Thursday. Guilford, Buncombe and Gaston counties also have issued the directives, as have the cities of Winston-Salem and Durham.

Gov. Roy Cooper has issued statewide orders that shuttered K-12 schools through mid-May, banned mass gatherings of more than 50 people and told restaurants to stop dine-in service. Cooper, who said this week that additional guidance and orders would be coming, scheduled a news conference late Friday afternoon.