RALEIGH, N.C. -- A Spectrum News analysis of the state's COVID-19 case numbers showed exponential growth as officials warned Monday that the pandemic is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.

Officials in North Carolina reported the state's first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 on March 3. By Monday, the official statewide tally had hit 1,307, with most of the growth happening over the past week. During a conference call with reporters on Monday morning, state epidemiologist Zack Moore said North Carolina is still at the beginning of the pandemic.

"Every indication is that this is really ramping up now and we are entering the acceleration phase," he said.

Moore said the state is tracking cases through the same network of hospitals and doctors' offices that tracks the flu every year. He said this gives officials a stable set of data to work with but it doesn't offer much insight into how many people carry the disease without developing symptoms, or develop symptoms but are able to recover at home with little to no professional intervention.

For the week ending March 21, NC DHHS data shows the state had 4,280 cases of influenza-like illness. In terms of raw numbers, this puts the flu well ahead of COVID-19. However, unlike the flu, COVD-19 has shown extremely rapid growth. Between March 7 and March 21, COVID-19 cases averaged 650 percent growth while flu cases averaged a three percent drop. The highest growth rate for flu so far this season has been about 45 percent during the week of December 21-28, compared to a tenfold increase in COVID-19 cases between March 7 and 14.

Moore said the state's data isn't likely to reflect recent actions by officials, such as stay-at-home orders, for a couple of weeks due to the virus' 14-day incubation period.