North Carolina COVID-19 cases increase by more than 1,000 on Sunday
North Carolina added more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases to its total Sunday, according to the state health department.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,051 confirmed new cases of COVID-19 and nine new related deaths since Saturday.
At least 166,127 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 2,692 have died, DHHS reported.
The number of completed COVID-19 tests increased by 25,129 Sunday to 2,243,273.
Nearly 9% of the tests were positive as of Saturday, the latest date available, up from 8% the day before. State officials have said they want that number to be closer to 5%.
The number of people in the state hospitalized for COVID-19 decreased by 48 on Sunday to 917, according to DHHS.
The number of hospitals reporting that information decreased from 90% to 88%
State public health officials track coronavirus spread through four main metrics, including hospitalizations, the number of new cases, and the percentage of people who tested positive.
DHHS advises that the data on the COVID-19 dashboard is preliminary and can be adjusted as more reporting is collected. They advise looking at trends over a period of time.
On Saturday the number of new COVID-19 cases in the state spiked to a new high of 2,585 as old positive tests were recently reported to the state, according to DHHS, The News & Observer reported.
The increase in new cases was due, in part, to about 1,000 positive tests from the first half of August that were reported to the state by LabCorp in the previous 24 hours, according to a DHHS news release.
The previous record for a one-day increase in new cases was set on July 18 when the number reached 2,481.
The number of completed COVID-19 tests also hit a new record Saturday after they increased by 35,258 Saturday to 2,218,149. The previous record of 31,724 new tests was set on Thursday.
