North Carolina hits record-high daily increase in new coronavirus cases
Updated July 2 at 6 p.m. See story for details.
North Carolina reported its largest daily increase in COVID-19 cases Wednesday, adding 1,843 new cases and pushing the state’s total since March to 66,513, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The number of new cases had been trending downward since Saturday, with Tuesday’s count at 1,186.
Also trending downward is the state’s number of completed tests, which has dropped from a high of 23,534 on June 19 to only 17,660 Wednesday. According to the NCDHHS, 10% of Tuesday’s total testing numbers were positive. North Carolina has completed 942,238 tests.
Reported hospitalizations dropped from a record high of 915 last week to 901 Wednesday, with 86% of hospitals reporting.
Last Friday, the state began requiring people wear masks in public, particularly when social distancing isn’t possible. Research shows that face coverings dramatically slow the spread of the virus.
Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday that he was encouraged to see more people wearing masks, and he asked for continued vigilance during Fourth of July celebrations. A gathering without masks and social distancing “is one of the most likely places for COVID-19 to spread,” Cooper said in a news conference.
Johnston County reported 66 new cases Tuesday, and a daily increase of about 4.5%. About 52% of the people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in Johnston County are Latino.
Statewide, Hispanic residents account for 46% of coronavirus cases, according to DHHS. Less than 10% of North Carolina’s population is Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census.
Pamlico County had its first coronavirus-related death Monday. The person had been hospitalized with “significant underlying medical conditions,” according to a release by Pamlico County Emergency Services.
People with underlying health conditions such as chronic lung disease, diabetes, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, are more likely to develop severe cases of COVID-19. DHHS reported Tuesday that 70% of people who have died from COVID-19 had at least one underlying health condition, and that 80% of deaths are among people 65 or older.
At Fort Bragg, 82 students and eight instructors of a survival training camp tested positive for coronavirus, McClatchy News reported. Most are asymptomatic and none have required hospitalization. Soldiers were nearing the end of the 19-day course when some began feeling sick.
New Triangle outbreaks at nursing homes were reported for the first time Tuesday. A staff member and a resident at the retirement community Waltonwood Cary Parkway have tested positive. Two staff members tested positive at The Cedars of Chapel Hill. An outbreak is defined as two or more people testing positive.
While DHHS data initially showed a worker at the Laurels at Forest Glenn in Garner had died, state health officials said July 2 the information about the death was in error. The correction came after a spokesman for Laurel Health Care Company, which runs the nursing home, said the state’s information about a worker’s death is inaccurate.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, DHHS secretary, announced Tuesday that statewide testing for all nursing home residents and employees will occur July and August, regardless of whether there are facility outbreaks. According to data released Tuesday by the NC DHHS, 600 nursing home residents have died and 1,300 workers have tested positive.
Staff writer Carli Brosseau and Mitchell Willetts of McClatchy News contributed.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 1:23 PM.