NC COVID cases pass 500,000 mark. Cases have doubled in just over two months
North Carolina has more than 500,000 COVID-19 cases since the virus first appeared in March, state health officials reported Saturday. The state has added more than 100,000 new cases in 18 days.
The first case came March 3, a Wake County resident who was exposed to the virus in Washington state. North Carolina reached 100,000 cases July 20 and passed 400,000 cases on Dec. 8. Cases have more than doubled in just over two months as cold weather has driven people indoors and Thanksgiving travel prompted surges across the country.
The numbers reflect positive tests; some people who test positive remain asymptomatic but are at risk of spreading the virus to others. There are also many more who have likely been infected since the virus hit the United States, but haven’t been tested.
Julie Swann, an infectious disease expert and professor at N.C. State University, said studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others give her reason to believe the true number of those who have been infected is at least four times higher.
While the numbers for reported cases, hospitalizations and deaths are scary North Carolina is doing better than most states, she said. The deaths per capita from COVID-19, as reported by The New York Times earlier this week, showed the state ranked 38th, she said.
She credited Gov. Roy Cooper and Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen for taking tougher measures than in other states.
“Our governor has been consistently ahead of where a lot of states have been on policies that have protected the North Carolina public,” she said. “I think our department of health has great leadership and works very closely with the governor’s office, and I think they are better at this, or have the right procedures, plans and policies in place. That has encouraged the behavior that we need in North Carolina in comparison to what I have seen in some other states.”
On Thursday, California was the first state to reach 2 million COVID-19 cases, The Sacramento Bee and other media reported.
Latest virus numbers
The state’s total cases climbed to 513,930, a cumulative increase of 19,419 cases from the last reported total earlier this week. The state Department of Health and Human Services did not provide coronavirus data Thursday or Friday because of the Christmas holiday.
Hospitalizations are at 3,023, a decrease of a previous high of 3,043 that was reached Wednesday before Christmas Eve. They topped 3,000 on Tuesday for the first time.
The month began with only 2,033 hospitalizations on Dec. 1.
The death toll reached 6,526, an increase of 166 deaths over three days. The state has completed 6,708,088 tests as of Saturday.
Swann said the growth in cases is not likely to slow with people gathering to celebrate Christmas and New Year. Those impacts will start to show up in the next few weeks.
For New Year’s Eve, she suggested people keep gatherings as small as possible and wear masks when around anyone outside of the household. She also said those who do celebrate with others should try to stay isolated as much before and after the holiday “so you are not inadvertently taking it and spreading it.”
“What we really need to think about especially is making sure we keep people out of the hospitals,” she said.
In other coronavirus news
▪ The latest news of the virus in the state comes after the Duke University women’s basketball team called off its season to avoid the risk of COVID-19. Duke is the first school in a major conference to end its women’s basketball season.
▪ Over 100 inmates were diagnosed with COVID-19 at a state prison north of Charlotte this month and prison officials caused controversy after moving infected individuals into a dorm with uninfected inmates.
▪ Public schools in Wake and Mecklenburg County will keep students at home the first two weeks of January to prevent virus spread as COVID-19 cases have continued to appear among students and staff.
This story was originally published December 26, 2020 at 1:47 PM.