The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians received notice of its first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 on Friday, March 27.

Jackson County is now requiring anybody entering from another state or country to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, along with all household members.

As expected, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued an order earlier this afternoon directing residents to avoid all unnecessary activity outside the home.

All recreation sites in the National Forests in North Carolina — including the Pisgah and Nantahala — are now temporarily shut down.

The closure of Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resorts will extend an additional two weeks from the initial March 18 through April 1 period, the casino announced March 26. While two weeks from April 1 would put the expected reopening at April 15, a press release announcing the closure extension left the reopening plans vague. 

On the morning of March 26, the Haywood County Board of Commissioners became the latest public body in North Carolina to issue restrictions on movement in an effort to halt the spread of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Principal Chief Richard Sneed has issued a March 25 curfew order on the Qualla Boundary in hopes of preventing spread of COVID-19 on Cherokee lands.

In a Zoom call Wednesday, Dogwood Health Trust CEO Antony Chiang announced the foundation has committed $10 million to spend on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic that has now hit Western North Carolina. 

In an effort to promote social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19, Swain County declared a State of Emergency on March 17 after guidance from the World Health Organization, the CDC and the U.S. and the state Department of Health and Human Services.

As the Coronavirus Pandemic continues to spread, Haywood County and all four of its municipalities will now prohibit non-essential activity through April 16.