North Carolina sees COVID-19 hospitalizations top 3,000 for second day in a row

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 5,609 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, for a total of 494,511 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

The state also reported 69 more deaths due to COVID-19.

As of Wednesday, 10.7% of tests are positive statewide, which is doubling the state’s benchmark of 5%.

Currently, 3,043 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, an increase of 42 patients from Tuesday. This also marks the second time more than 3,000 patients have been hospitalized with COVID-19.

In the past 24 hours, 416 confirmed COVID-19 patients have been admitted statewide.

The NCDHHS said 696 adult COVID-19 patients are in the ICU, the highest number in a month. Across the state, 411 ICU beds and 4,972 inpatient beds are available.

[RELATED: Here’s what NC’s new modified stay-at-home order means for you]

The NCDHHS started updating its COVID-19 dashboard to show the number of vaccinations in the state.

NCDHHS said there can be up to a 72-hour lag in data. As of Wednesday, 24,500 people have received their first dose. No one has yet received the full series.

62% of those who have been vaccinated are between the ages of 25 and 49.

Currently, the state is in Phase 1a of the plan, which means health care workers fighting COVID-19 and long-term care staff and residents can be vaccinated.

The NCDHHS reported that 2,081 people in Mecklenburg County have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

>> 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.

[WANT TO WATCH ON OUR STREAMING APPS? CLICK HERE]

[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.

What about closer to home? Metrics still cause for concern in Meck County

As of Wednesday morning, there were 57,755 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 514 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents.

Highlights about the 56,044 COVID-19 cases reported in Mecklenburg County as of Dec. 20, 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 680 laboratory-confirmed infections per day were reported compared to the 14-day average of 650 confirmed infections. This represents an increase over the last 14 days. These data are based on Mecklenburg resident cases reported to MCPH.
• During the past week, an average of 340 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 12.0 percent of individuals who were tested in Mecklenburg County were positive for COVID-19. This represents a fairly stable trend 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.
• Five hundred-fourteen deaths due to COVID-19 occurred among reported cases.
• Almost all deaths were among older adults (≥ 60 years), 7 deaths occurred in adults ages 20 to 39 and 67 deaths were adults ages 40 to 59.
• All deaths, except eight, occurred among adults with underlying chronic illnesses.
• Almost 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 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 represents a fairly stable trend in Mecklenburg County over the last 14 days.

Cox Media Group