NC reports nearly 10,000 new COVID cases over last two days
North Carolina reported 9,860 new COVID-19 cases over the past two days on Tuesday.
Monday saw 5,802 newly confirmed cases, and Tuesday saw 4,058, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The state did not report new case numbers Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
Hospitalizations over the two days increased to 3,881. On Sunday, there were 3,862.
Since the new year, hospitalizations have increased by 400.
On Sunday, the latest day for which data was available, 11.8% of reported COVID-19 tests returned positive. Over the last week before Sunday, an average of 11.4% of tests per day returned positive.
That’s more than double the 5% or lower that state health officials want, though the average has been decreasing steadily since it hit 15.1% two weeks ago.
Since Sunday, 53 more North Carolinians have died due to the virus. As of Tuesday, 8,139 people have died in North Carolina. So far, in January alone, 1,319 have died.
Mecklenburg County reported the state’s second pediatric death, but as of Tuesday afternoon had not released any details besides reporting that the person was under 18.
DHHS reported the state’s first pediatric death back in June. To protect the family’s privacy, the state did provide any details beyond that the death was reported in the central part of the state.
Case and hospitalization data reported by DHHS is preliminary and subject to change upon further investigation.
ICU and hospital capacity
Available intensive care unit beds increased to 395 from the 376 reported Sunday. About 84% of ICU beds in North Carolina are in use.
Available inpatient beds increased to 5,041 from the 5,023 reported Sunday. About 76% of inpatient beds across the state are in use.
These rates have stayed stable over the last few weeks.
Vaccine distribution in Wake County
Thousands of people in Wake County signed up for the COVID-19 vaccine as the county started accepting applications for spots on its waiting list Tuesday morning.
The influx of those trying to get in line for a shot made it difficult to access an online sign-up portal and kept phone lines busy. By about 10:15 a.m., the portal — wakegov.com/vaccine — was widely available again.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, 19,703 people in Wake County had signed up for a vaccination.
The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer and The Herald-Sun are asking readers to share their experiences in signing up for and receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.
To fill out the survey, visit bit.ly/ncvaccine.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 12:53 PM.