COVID-19 hospitalizations trend high a day after record-breaking case increase in NC
A daily increase of 2,676 coronavirus cases was reported in North Carolina Saturday after the state broke its record for new cases on Friday and reached its second highest recorded number on Thursday.
The consistently high numbers like Friday’s record 2,908 cases highlight the virus’s second wave as cases and deaths skyrocket nationally. This second wave has already put European countries back into strict lockdowns.
Daily case increases haven’t been reported under 2,000 since almost two weeks ago.
The state’s total is up to 291,245 people infected since March, when the first case was reported in the state. The number of people killed by COVID-19 is now 4,605, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported.
Death increases have mostly trended above at least 30 daily over the last seven days, but Saturday saw an increase of 22 deaths related to COVID-19.
Completed tests statewide reached 4,311,111 with daily testing higher than earlier in the pandemic, coming to around 50,000 daily.
The positive test rate is at 6.9% — well above the state target of 5% — and has hovered around that mark since last week.
Hospitalizations trending high
The number of hospitalizations was at 1,196 on Saturday with 97% of hospitals reporting with an increase of 35 more patients over Friday.
The daily hospital patient numbers have hovered around the 1,200 mark for the last three weeks.
In the last 24 hours, 152 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were admitted along with 334 patients suspected to have the virus.
There are 1,877 intensive care unit beds with 510 empty staffed beds and 935 ventilators in use out of 2,512, according to the state health department’s hospitalization data.
