Our timeline presents major pandemic milestones, executive orders, and actions taken in North Carolina as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic; we also include the daily reported lab confirmed cases and a gaussian kernel-smoothed average of lab confirmed cases. In the graph below, it is important to note that the confirmed case data has been shifted 7 days back (in time) to more accurately align when people likely contracted SARS-CoV-2 with the milestone dates. This accounts for the delay between a person becoming symptomatic and getting tested, as well as the delay in reporting of the test results to NCDHHS (click here for more detail). Early action taken starting with the State of Emergency Declaration on March 10, seven days after the first confirmed case in the state, does appear to have slowed the initial stages of transmission with a leveling off of new cases around April 1. However, the daily number of reported cases began increasing as the phased reopening plan went into effect, indicating that there was still significant transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in North Carolina. After a peak in July, cases plateaued and/or fell. Transmission reached a low point in early September, but rose steadily until late November, when it appeared to magnify due to the holiday season. After the New Year holiday, transmission appeared to be in a declining phase. However, as restrictions were lifted and the Delta variant began circulating, transmission has intensified.