NC COVID-19 Dec. 22 Update: new cases count, positivity rate push three-month high

RALEIGH, N.C. (WAVY) — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released its latest coronavirus statistics on Wednesday.

Daily cases in the state are up from yesterday’s report with 4,889 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. That is the most cases added on a single day since October 1.

Overall, the state has reported 1,607,378 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, the state’s daily positivity rate has risen to 10.4%.

That is the highest positivity rate in about three months.

1,680 people are currently hospitalized with confirmed or pending cases of COVID-19 – down 2 patients from yesterday. 

27% of those are in the ICU, while 16% are currently on a ventilator. In addition, the state is reporting that 0.8% of those hospitalized are children.

That is the lowest percentage of children hospitalized in exactly four months. That percentage has continued to see a sharp decline since vaccines were approved for children ages 5-11, however, that decline began about a week before approval.

State data shows that 73% of adults are partially vaccinated, while 69% of adults are fully vaccinated. 58% of that total population is fully vaccinated.

As far as COVID-19 related deaths, the state has recorded a total of 19,233 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic. That is an additional 50 deaths reported since yesterday.

Local counties metrics:

• Gates 1,192– 18 deaths
• Bertie 2,629 – 54 deaths
• Camden 1,294 – 9 deaths
• Chowan 2,452 – 44 deaths
• Currituck 3,194– 27 deaths
• Dare 4,495 – 15 deaths
• Hertford 2,969 – 72 deaths
• Pasquotank 5,730 – 110 deaths
• Perquimans 1,774 – 16 deaths