NC reports record-breaking COVID cases again; Meck County trends increase

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina reported a record amount of new COVID-19 cases Friday, the day after hitting a record in the same category.

On Friday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 28,474 new COVID-19 cases. For context, that’s 4,200 more cases than were reported Thursday, and a continuation of the steadily rising number of cases in the state. Friday’s number is the third consecutive day of more than 20,000 reported cases in the state and the ninth consecutive day of more than 10,000 new cases.

Channel 9 noted the NCDHHS adjusted the chart they use to track COVID-19 cases. The dashboard previously showed a maximum of 20,000 cases to track the daily data, but on Friday, the dashboard showed a maximum of 30,000 cases.

PREVIOUS: NC sees highest daily total of COVID-19 cases since start of pandemic

3,474 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest total since Dec. 31, 2020.

Health officials said 31.2% of people getting tested for COVID-19 test positive, a continuation of an upward trend that began at the end of December.

70% of North Carolina’s adult population is fully vaccinated.

A look at the data from closer to home

Closer to home, Mecklenburg County reported 198,698 cases of COVID-19 among its residents with 1,326 deaths due to the virus. County health leaders said during the past week, an average of 2,315 infections per day were reported -- an increase compared to the 14-day average of 1,781 confirmed infections. 80% of the deaths were among adults 60 years or older, 37 deaths occurred in adults ages 20 to 39 and 229 deaths were adults ages 40 to 59. Except for 36 people, all deaths were among adults with underlying chronic illnesses.

Nearly 30% of deaths were connected to active outbreaks at long-term care facilities.

As of Jan. 6, Mecklenburg County Public Health said it has seen 12,905 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated residents (1.9% of fully vaccinated residents).

ALSO READ: Long lines, rapid test shortages plague some NC mountain counties

During the past week, an average of 374 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County, a trend that has increased over the last 14 days. An average of 32% of individuals who were tested in Mecklenburg County were positive for COVID-19 -- another increased trend over the last two weeks.

The new data come as the demand for COVID-19 testing has skyrocketed after the 2021 holiday season. Channel 9 has seen lines of people waiting to be tested that have stretched for hours at several testing sites in our viewing area.

Tensions reached a boiling point for some neighbors Wednesday as a StarMed location in south Charlotte saw two incidents involving guns. Channel 9 spoke with the two men involved in one of the disputes who said their confrontation happened because of frustration over the long line of cars snaking through a nearby neighborhood.

On Friday, the Burke County Health Department said it had run out of rapid antigen tests. Workers told Channel 9 they haven’t had the rapid tests for weeks and they don’t know when the state will provide more.

(WATCH: ‘To be where we need to be’: New COVID-19 test site opening at Cabarrus Arena)