COVID-19 in the Carolinas: NC’s percent positive rate remains around 5% goal

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday reported 1,137 new cases of COVID-19 in the state and 22,513 completed tests.

As of Monday, 5.8% of tests are positive--the first time the metric has jumped above 5% since last Wednesday.

Mecklenburg, Iredell and Rowan counties are reporting percent positive rates below 5%, though Gaston County is reporting a percent positive rate above 7%.

918 people are currently hospitalized with 96% of hospitals reporting.

>> Have questions about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the Carolinas? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the outbreak -- CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

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[COUNTY-BY-COUNTY COVID-19 RESOURCE GUIDE]

[CORONAVIRUS IN THE CAROLINAS; HERE’S HOW TO STAY INFORMED]

Note: The numbers we show you every day mean everything in how our community recovers from coronavirus -- both in terms of healthcare and the economy -- but they don’t mean much without the proper context and as much transparency as possible.

New cases vary day by day based on a lot of factors. That can include how long it takes to get results back, so a new case reported today can really be several days old.

The other big metric we watch is the percent of positive cases. This is data we can only get from the state because it’s not as simple as factoring a percent of new cases each day from the number of tests. That’s because test results take days and come from a variety of places.

Cox Media Group