More than 11,000 NC residents have recovered from COVID-19, new data shows

More than 11,000 people have recovered from COVID-19, according to new estimates reported Monday by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

The state said 11,637 residents have “presumed to be recovered” from COVID-19, according to NCDHHS, an increase of more than 2,500 people.

That’s 61% of North Carolina’s 19,203 confirmed cases, according to NCDHHS. As of Monday morning, the state has reported 661 COVID-19 deaths and more than 500 people hospitalizations.

This is the second week the state has provided the data. Last week, NCDHHS reported 9,115 people have recovered.

Last week, Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, stressed that the number of people who have “presumed to be recovered” is an estimate, not an exact total.

It can be difficult to judge recovery, as some people with COVID-19 have minimal or no symptoms and may not have been tested to diagnose them. The state said patient-specific information isn’t available for all cases.

Cohen said the state is estimating 14 days as the median recovery time for those not hospitalized and 28 days for those who required hospitalization.

She said the time intervals were chosen based on World Health Organization’s guidance and in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and other state health departments.

The WHO reports recovery times of three to six weeks for “severe or critical disease,” the state said.

The DHHS report notes that the estimates “cannot account for other factors that could impact a patient’s recovery time or disease severity, such as age and underlying health conditions.”

The recovery data comes as Gov. Roy Cooper contemplates the state entering Phase Two, when more restrictions on residents and businesses will be lifted. Monday, he spoke about the rise of tests administered in North Carolina.

“We’ve continued to push for increased testing throughout the state and we are succeeding,” Cooper said. “But even more testing is critical. As of today, approximately 275 testing sites are listed on the Department of Health and Human Services website. The last seven days we’ve tested an average of about 7,500 people per day.”

Over the weekend, North Carolina had its largest increase of positive cases.

“From Friday to Saturday of this weekend, we had 853 new COVID-19 cases,” Cohen said Monday. “Any increase like this is concerning and a reminder of how quickly this virus can spread.”

But, Cohen added, with more tests comes the likelihood of more positive tests.

Cooper, Cohen and other officials are monitoring several benchmarks to determine whether the state can enter Phase Two. That includes trends of positive cases, hospitalizations and testing.

The data on recoveries will be updated every Monday at 4 p.m. on the DHHS website at covid19.ncdhhs.gov.