North Carolina sees COVID-19 cases increase by nearly 2,000 as hurricane nears
North Carolina added another 2,000 cases to its running coronavirus total Friday, but the number of hospitalized patients dropped for the second straight day.
The state Department of Health and Human Services reported 122,148 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up 1,954 from Thursday’s total.
Deaths statewide reached 1,924 Friday, adding another 21 people to the pandemic’s death toll.
The number of COVID-19 hospital patients dropped to 1,229, down 10 from Thursday. The state saw record numbers of patients twice this week but is now in two days of decline.
DHHS reported 429 suspected COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in the last 24 hours. Available beds climbed slightly across the state Friday to 520 for intensive care and 5,006 for general inpatients.
Testing for coronavirus continued to ramp up across North Carolina. The state has now conducted more than 1.75 million COVID-19 tests at a pace of roughly 30,000 a day. Positive results for those tests remained at 8%, its level on Thursday.
The updated totals came as North Carolina braces for Hurricane Isaias to strike the coast as a Category 1 storm. State emergency officials warned residents to brace for some impact.
“Being prepared for potential hurricanes is extra important this year because of the pandemic,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a Friday tweet. “Protect yourself, your family and first responders by making sure you have emergency supplies and creating an evacuation plan.”
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said Tuesday that key coronavirus indicators are beginning to stabilize. But Thursday, cases started to increase again.
“We had seen a 10- to 12-day stabilization in our cases, but today saw another high day of cases,” she said at a news conference Thursday. “We do not want to stabilize the high rate of new cases.”
Friday, a late-night alcohol sales ban will go into effect in North Carolina to help to slow the spread of the coronavirus among young people, who now make up the majority of the state’s cases.
The ban will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., according to Cooper’s executive order announced Tuesday. The order will stay in place through Aug. 31. Bars will continue to remain closed.