NC single-day virus cases soar to more than 6,000 for second time

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday again reported another record day for COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 2,191 currently in hospitals across the state -- the fifth straight day that North Carolina has seen the metric grow.

The state saw more than 2,000 in one day for the first time on Nov. 30 and that number has remained above 2,000 ever since.

292 people were admitted to the hospital within the last 24 hours with a confirmed case of COVID-19. 303 people were admitted within the last 24 hours with a suspected case of COVID-19.

The state’s percent positive rate stands at 10.4%. Last Sunday, it was at 10.0%.

6,438 new COVID-19 cases were also reported on Sunday -- the highest single-day increase so far since the pandemic began. Saturday’s increase of more than 6,000 was the second highest ever.

Twenty-seven more deaths were reported on Sunday, meaning 5,543 people have died from COVID-19 in North Carolina.

After topping 6,000 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen released a statement asking North Carolinians to take personal responsibility for their actions during the pandemic.

“In less than a week, we went from exceeding 5,000 new cases reported in one day to exceeding 6,000. This is very worrisome. We are seeing our highest rates of tests that come back positive despite the fact we are doing a lot of testing. This indicates we have even more viral spread across our state right now. We have record numbers of hospitalizations and people in the ICU. I am asking each North Carolinian to take personal responsibility for their actions and slowing the spread of this virus. Always wear a mask when with people you don’t live with, keep your distance from other people and wash your hands often. We are looking at what further actions we can take as a state to protect North Carolinians and save lives.”

Gov. Roy Cooper also released a statement Saturday, saying he and his team are looking at what steps may need to be taken to protect residents across the state.

“After a steady increase in numbers, we’ve broken another case record today with 6,018 new cases. We’re examining what action may be needed to protect North Carolinians, but we need everyone to wear masks and follow safety measures. Our actions right now are life or death.”

>> 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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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.

What about closer to home? Meck County percent positive climbs close to 11%

As of Sunday afternoon, there were 46,983 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 470 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents.

Highlights about the 44,407 COVID-19 cases reported in Mecklenburg County as of Dec. 2, 2020 include:

• About 3 in 4 reported cases were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.
• About 1 in 20 reported cases were hospitalized due to their COVID-19 infection. While everyone is at risk for severe COVID-19 complications, reported cases who were older adults (≥ 60 years) were more likely to be hospitalized compared to younger individuals.
• About 8 out of 10 have met CDC criteria to be released from isolation.
• During the past week, an average of 357 laboratory-confirmed infections were reported compared to the 14-day average of 360 confirmed infections. This represents a fairly stable trend over the last 14 days. These data are based on Mecklenburg resident cases reported to MCPH.
• During the past week, an average of 226 individuals with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. This represents an increase over the last 14 days. These data are based on daily census counts from acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County reporting to MCPH.
• During the past week, an average of 10.9 percent of individuals who were tested in Mecklenburg County were positive for COVID-19. This represents an increase in trends over the last 14 days. These data only include ELRs for molecular (PCR) tests submitted to NC DHHS for laboratories electronically submitting negative and positive COVID-19 results.
• Four hundred-sixty-four deaths due to COVID-19 occurred among reported cases.
• Almost all deaths were among older adults (≥ 60 years), 5 deaths occurred in adults ages 20 to 39 and 62 deaths were adults ages 40 to 59.
• All deaths, except seven, occurred among adults with underlying chronic illnesses.
• More than half were non-Hispanic Whites. The disparity in COVID-19 deaths among non-Hispanic Whites is related to differences in race/ethnicity of residents of long-term care (LTC) facilities actively experiencing an outbreak.
• Half of the deaths were connected to active outbreaks at long-term care (LTC) facilities.
• Among deaths not connected to outbreaks at long-term care facilities, nearly 3 in 4 were non-White, with 40 percent being non-Hispanic Black. As previously noted, these disparities are largely driven by higher rates of underlying chronic conditions that increase risk of severe complications due to COVID-19 infection among these communities
• Based on publicly available mobility tracking data, social distancing declined then slightly increased in Mecklenburg County over the last 14 days.

Cox Media Group