NC records 3rd-highest daily number of new COVID-19 cases, 2nd-highest deaths
The NC Department of Health and Human Services reported Sunday the state’s third-highest daily number of confirmed new cases of COVID-19 and second-highest number of confirmed deaths.
Sunday’s 3,117 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 would have been the highest at any point in the pandemic before Veterans Day.
In recent weeks, Sunday has typically had one of the week’s lowest numbers of new confirmed cases of COVID-19. Last week, for instance, it was the third-lowest number of new cases, with the second-lowest number in each of the two weeks before that.
The state also confirmed that COVID-19 was linked with 50 deaths, which matches the second-highest number confirmed on a single day at any point during the pandemic. Deaths are not all from a single day because they are reported as they are confirmed.
So far, 4,806 North Carolinians have died from COVID-19.
There are also 1,395 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Saturday, the last day for which data was available. That day, 95% of the hospitals in the state reported their COVID-19 patients.
On Friday, the last day for which data is available, 7.9% of COVID-19 tests in North Carolina came back positive. That was enough to continue the week-long elevation of the seven-day rolling average for testing.
On Nov. 7, the rolling average for test positivity was 6.6%. It has risen each day since, reaching 7.6% on Friday.
Friday night, an executive order limiting indoor gatherings to 10 people, down from 25, went into effect. In a prepared statement, Gov. Roy Cooper said the order “sends a serious signal” to people who are thinking about gathering for family or social events.
Cooper’s order does not apply to a wide range of businesses that have had capacity limits defined under previous executive orders Those include places like gyms, restaurants and stadiums.
The order will remain into effect until Dec. 4, through the Thanksgiving holiday.
The News & Observer previously reported that during a news conference this week, Cooper said the number of people attending Thanksgiving festivities should be reduced, tables should be spread out and attendees should seek out COVID-19 tests before attending.
In a recent phone interview with the N&O, Ralph Baric, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor and one of the world’s leading researchers on coronaviruses, warned of a COVID-19 surge this winter.
“We are looking at five months of extensive and rapid virus spread,” Baric said.
This story was originally published November 15, 2020 at 12:45 PM.