North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced Saturday that there are 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 12 counties.
He also says there is no indication of community spread as of yet.
The governor held a press conference to discuss the state's changes amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Governor Cooper says he is issuing an Executive Order to stop all mass gatherings of more than 100 people. The order does not apply to restaurants, shopping malls or other retail stores.
The Executive Order also orders all public schools to close on Monday for two weeks. Several schools have already made this decision prior to the order, however, the governor has now made it mandatory.
The governor addressed the concerns of how difficult this decision will be on students and families and those who will be affected financially. He announced that he is working on effort to deal with the challenges through unemployment insurance and special funding from the state and federal government.
Health officials say they have worked continuously to provide more testing and options for drive thru testing in the upcoming weeks.
