NC rolling average for new COVID-19 cases reaches record high, breaks 2,400 cases
North Carolina reached a new high Monday in the seven-day average for newly reported COVID-19 cases, according to data released by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
DHHS reported 1,521 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, the first time since last Monday that it has reported less than 2,000 new cases.
Even as the number of new cases fell, the seven-day daily average for new cases continued to rise Monday, reaching a record-high of 2,405 cases over the past week. Rolling averages are used to track new cases in order to better account for single-day peaks and valleys.
Last Friday, DHHS reported the most new COVID-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began, with 2,908. The past week has also seen the third- and eighth-highest days for new lab-confirmed cases in North Carolina.
As the rolling average for new cases has trended upward, so has the average of the COVID-19 test positivity rate.
On Saturday, the last day for which data was reported, 6.6% of tests came back positive. That brought the seven-day average for testing to 6.7%, above the 5% targeted by state health officials.
On Sunday, the last day for which data was reported, there were 1,169 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, according to data reported by 96% of North Carolina’s hospitals.
DHHS also reported eight new deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 4,615 residents of North Carolina.
The state health department also reported the weekly number of COVID-19 patients it assumes to have recovered from the illness. DHHS considers someone recovered two weeks after they test positive if they are not hospitalized and four weeks after they test positive if they are hospitalized and do not die.
Of the 294,860 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in North Carolina since the pandemic began, DHHS assumes 261,719 have recovered.
Clusters of cases
DHHS also released its weekly COVID-19 cluster report, which records when there are five or more cases measured within a two-week period that can plausibly be linked with a specific activity, workplace or other setting.
This week’s report included 47 new clusters, with 602 cases linked to those or existing clusters. Newly reported cases and deaths linked to clusters could be tied to either newly reported incidents or previously identified groups with new cases.
The most new clusters came from government services, a setting that includes EMS, fire departments, police and other public officials. There were seven new clusters among the group statewide in the past week, with 49 newly recorded cases and one death.
Religious gatherings contributed to five new clusters in the past week, as well as 83 new cases and two deaths. The 83 new cases are the lowest associated with religious gatherings since August, according to the cluster report.
Clusters at colleges and universities hit their lowest level since July, according to the report, with 60 new cases and two new clusters.
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 12:05 PM.