NC has single-day record of new COVID-19 cases as White House puts state in ‘red zone’
North Carolina recorded 2,532 new COVID-19 cases Thursday — a new record for single-day cases since the pandemic began in March, Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday.
The number represents a day-over-day increase of more than 600 cases.
“Our numbers are higher than we want them to be right now,” Cooper said Thursday at a press conference. “There’s not one geographical area or industry to blame. I know we’re all tired of this. It’s frustrating to feel confined and to do the things we need to do to slow the spread of the virus.
“But we can’t let weariness and frustration win out. We’ve brought our numbers down before, and we need to do it again.”
Total daily cases in the last seven days are 8% higher than the previous seven. New lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases have reached peaks in October that were last seen in July.
The most recent White House Coronavirus Task Force report put North Carolina in the “red zone” for new coronavirus cases, The Center for Public Integrity reported. North Carolina is one of 26 states where there were more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 residents.
The state was in the red zone in early September, The News & Observer reported, but had hovered in the orange zone since then.
The state Department of Health and Human Services has counted 238,939 coronavirus infections since the pandemic started in March.
DHHS reported 1,140 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized Wednesday, with 96% of hospitals reporting. That’s down from the 1,152 hospitalized Tuesday, when 97% of hospitals sent in their information.
The state added 18 additional deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the total to 3,874 since the first two in March.
On Tuesday, 6.6% of coronavirus tests showed positive results. The percentage positive rate is higher than the 5% that state officials want.
During a Thursday news conference, the state reported its first death connected to the flu. The person was over 65 years old and lived in the central part of North Carolina, according to a DHHS press release.
North Carolina reported 186 flu deaths in the 2019-20 flu season, DHHS said in a news release. That was a decrease from the 208 deaths the previous year.
Of the 2019-20 deaths, 105 were among those 65 and older. Five deaths were under the age of 18.
The pandemic and the public health policies meant to slow spread of the virus are major campaign issues in North Carolina and the rest of the country. North Carolina’s pandemic response was central to Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate between Cooper, a Democrat, and Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, The News & Observer reported.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 12:37 PM.