NC adds 2,000 new coronavirus cases while hospitalized patients decrease
North Carolina added more than 2,000 coronavirus cases to its total Thursday, though the number of hospitalized patients dropped slightly.
The state Department of Health and Human Services reported 93,426 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up 2,160 from Wednesday’s total. That increase approaches the state’s record for single-day reports, set Saturday at 2,462.
Fatalities rose by 20 statewide, bringing North Carolina’s death toll to 1,588. Of those who have died in the pandemic, more than half were older than 75, though 36 percent of the fatalities struck patients between the ages of 50 and 74.
Hospitalized patients dropped by eight to 1,134 across the state, and North Carolina’s hospital beds gained a bit more capacity. Occupied inpatient beds fell by a percentage point to 75 percent; intensive-care beds, to 80 percent.
Testing for COVID-19 continued to surge, adding another 28,120 tests and pushing the state’s total past 1.3 million. State health officials have warned that more widespread testing partially explains the higher case volume, and they have been watching the rate of positive test results, which jumped from 8 percent to 9 percent Thursday.
Meanwhile, Gov. Roy Cooper announced new online tools to help Spanish-speaking residents decide if they should be tested for COVID-19 symptoms. The state’s Hispanic population has seen disproportionate effects from the pandemic, Cooper said, having 44 percent of the cases where ethnicity is known but only 9 percent of the population.
“Reliable information is a powerful tool to fight COVID-19,” Cooper said in a news release. “This Spanish language symptom checker will help people identify symptoms and then connect them with resources to know where to get tested. All of this is important to slowing the spread of the disease.”
The new tools are available on the DHHS website.
Also Thursday, Wake County announced its public health team will continue free, drive-through COVID-19 testing through July 25. Available dates are July 20-21 and July 23-25 at 4011 Carya Drive.
Following a three-step process is required: sign up here for a testing date, fill out a registration form, then print it or keep it saved in email. Testing spots are reserved for those with COVID-19 symptoms, workers in the highest-risk settings, people 65 and older and those who have attended mass protests or gatherings.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 12:26 PM.