North Carolina COVID-19 cases continue to climb Saturday
The number of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina continued to rise as more than 2,000 new cases were reported Saturday.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 2,097 new COVID-19 cases across the state Saturday, bringing the total to 111,092.
The agency reported 1,778 people have died, up 32 from a day earlier.
The number of those in the state hospitalized for COVID-19 dropped by 14 Friday, the latest day available, to 1,168, according to DHHS.
The number of hospitalizations rose to an all time high of 1,228 on Wednesday. DHHS says its COVID-19 data, including hospitalizations, is preliminary and subject to revision. Hospitalization numbers for the past week have increased as of Saturday.
The number of completed COVID-19 tests increased by 28,745 Saturday, according to the state.
The percentage of positive cases from daily testing remained at 8% Friday, the latest date available.
State public health officials track coronavirus spread through metrics that include hospitalizations, the number of new cases, and the percentage of people who tested positive.
On Friday, North Carolina officials announced the first confirmed coronavirus case in a juvenile being held in a state-run youth institution, The News & Observer reported.
The individual at Pitt Juvenile Detention Center in Greenville entered the facility already infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 but remains asymptomatic, state officials said in a news release.
A second and third inmate at Albemarle Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison located about an hour east of Charlotte, died due to complications from COVID-19, The Charlotte Observer reported. Another inmate at the Albemarle facility had died from COVID-19 complications July 14.
A total of eight people confined to state prisons have died from coronavirus complications.
In Mecklenburg County, officials announced Friday that two lifeguards and supervisors who work at county pools have tested positive, The Charlotte Observer reported.
On Monday, President Donald Trump will visit the Triangle.
Trump will tour Fujifilm Diosynth, a Japanese contract drug manufacturer with a large presence in Research Triangle Park. Fufjifilm and the biotech company Novavax are partnering to manufacture one of the more promising vaccine candidates for the novel coronavirus, The News & Observer reported.
