North Carolina shatters record for daily COVID-19 cases
North Carolina reported 5,637 additional COVID-19 cases Thursday, shattering the state’s previous daily record by over 1,000 cases.
That brings total confirmed coronavirus cases statewide to 377,231 since the pandemic began in March. There have been 5,410 deaths from COVID-19.
The state set its previous record Nov. 22, when the Department of Health and Human Services reported 4,514 cases in one day.
The daily case count has been increasing rapidly in recent weeks. At the beginning of November, that number was 6.8%.
The seven-day average for cases is currently 3,793. At the end of October, that number was just 2,300.
The positive test rate has also increased dramatically in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the most recent day for which data is available, 10..1% of tests came back positive for coronavirus. State health officials want to see a rate of 5%.
The state also reported 78 additional hospitalizations, bringing the total to 2,101 hospitalized with 97% of hospitals reporting.
There are now over 16,000 inpatient beds in use, and nearly 2,000 ICU beds in use. The number of empty hospital beds is now 4,761, the lowest number since mid October, and there are 432 ICU beds empty. That means that roughly 77% of staffed hospital beds are in use statewide, and roughly 82% of staffed ICU beds.
Cases surging nationwide
Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are surging across the country. On Wednesday, the U.S. recorded 2,760 deaths, an all-time high. During the pandemic’s last peak in April, the highest daily death count reported was 2,752.
Hospitalizations topped 100,000 Wednesday. That’s more than double the number at the beginning of November.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 11:59 AM.
