Coronavirus hospitalizations drop in NC. But what about positive tests?
One day after North Carolina’s top medical officer said a trend of rising coronavirus-related hospitalizations was a concern, the state’s number dropped on Wednesday.
The latest update from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services showed 684 people hospitalized by COVID-19. That’s a decrease of 32 from Tuesday’s single-day high of 716.
During a Tuesday news conference to update where the state stood in dealing with the pandemic, state DHHS secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said rising cases and hospitalizations over the last week were a sign more people are getting seriously ill with COVID-19.
“We continue to have capacity in our healthcare system to take care of people if they become seriously ill, so that is good,” Cohen said during Tuesday’s news conference. “But we would like to see this number declining, not increasing.”
In announcing Tuesday’s 716 hospitalizations, the state said 89 percent of hospitals reported data. Wednesday’s update came as 88 percent reported.
The state’s healthcare system continues to have a capacity to handle a sudden increase of severely ill patients. According to DHHS figures, 75% of ventilators are available while 24% of hospital beds and 15% of intensive care beds are available.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients was 481 on May 16 and has been above 600 every day since May 25.
Wednesday’s update showed 888 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 30,777 since the first case was confirmed in early March. The state has reported daily increases of 700 or more cases in five of the last seven days.
The state added 14,342 completed tests for COVID-19, bringing that total to 449,263. The percentage of positive tests remained at 8% for the fourth consecutive day.
The trend of positive tests is another of the key benchmarks state officials are monitoring as they decide when and how to relax social restrictions. Those restrictions, in addition to wearing masks, practicing social distancing and hand washing, have helped slow the spread of the virus in the state, Cohen said.
The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 increased by 18 to 939.
The News & Observer is keeping track of coronavirus cases and deaths, with numbers that are typically greater than what the state reports. The state reports data at around noon daily, while the N&O keeps track of new cases announced by counties throughout the day. As of Wednesday afternoon, that total was 30,988 cases and 980 deaths.