NC sees record high COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations as percent positive reaches 12.5%

COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths reached record highs in North Carolina on Wednesday.

There are currently 2,811 people across the state that are hospitalized with the virus, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

The state also reported another 98 deaths -- the highest single-day reported deaths total yet -- bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 5,979.

The percent positive rate has risen to 12.5%, the highest North Carolina has seen since April, when access to mass testing became available. The state has a goal of 5%.

The state reported 5,273 new cases in the past 24 hours.

>> 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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[NC VACCINE PLAN: Everything you need to know]

[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.