In a fever chart showing the peaks and valleys of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina, July 4, 2021, looked like the day the state won its freedom from the coronavirus. 

After averaging nearly 10,000 new cases a day in early January, by Independence Day that number was 300. 

Two months earlier, nearly half of North Carolina adults were fully vaccinated and Gov. Cooper lifted most statewide COVID-19 regulations. 

MORE COVERAGE: CITYWIDE MASK REQUIREMENT BEGINS FRIDAY.

The week after the long Fourth of July weekend (one of the first holidays in well over a year that Tar Heels had celebrated relatively COVID-19 -free) new cases began creeping up. 

By yesterday, Aug. 18, the state was seeing 5,000 new cases a day. Since the coronavirus surfaced here in March 2020, more than 1.1 million residents have been infected — about 11 percent of the state’s population. More than 14,000 have died.

In the past 14 days, new cases are up 75 percent in North Carolina; deaths are up 63 percent; and hospitalizations are up 78 percent. The hospitalizations are taking an especially heavy toll. Data from the federal government showed that intensive care units at most North Carolina hospitals were at or near capacity last week, and the caseloads have only gotten worse.

Speaking at the Greater Fayetteville Chamber’s Chairman’s Coffee Club on Thursday morning, Cape Fear Valley Health CEO Mike Nagowski briefed business leaders on the challenges the system’s hospitals are facing. On Thursday morning, Cape Fear Valley had 138 COVID-19 patients, the most at any time during the epidemic, Nagowksi told the audience, which was gathered at Fayetteville State University. Twenty of those patients were in intensive care, 18 on ventilators. Nagowksi said that 18 of the COVID-19 patients in ICU had not been vaccinated.

"We are experiencing the fastest acceleration in cases since the pandemic started," Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday. "If cases keep increasing at the current rate, we will pass that January peak in a matter of weeks."

As of Thursday afternoon, Gov. Cooper’s office had made no announcements on a new mask mandate, but the governor said Wednesday that "all options remain on the table." Cooper said he is leaving the decision on masks in schools up to local officials.

Some counties across the state are issuing mask mandates, but so far Cumberland County has not. The county is requiring that masks be worn inside all county buildings.

On Wednesday, Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin issued a state of emergency declaration that requires people to wear a mask in public and private indoor spaces but not around a member of their household. The rule takes effect at 5 p.m. Friday.

Meanwhile, area businesses appear to be following the lead of the governor, with no mandatory rules put in place.

“We continue to encourage customers to follow CDC guidelines regarding mask-wearing, social distancing, and staying home if ill,” Stacey Keating, communications director for CBL Properties, which owns Fayetteville’s Cross Creek Mall. “We are not currently implementing a mall-wide mask mandate, but certain retailers may require masks to enter their store and we’d ask the customers to be respectful of the policies they may have in place.”

If a local or state government agency or the health department were to implement a mask mandate, the mall would comply with it, Keating told the greater Fayetteville Business Journal on Thursday.