RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN/WAVY) – North Carolina’s key COVID-19 trends continue to move in the wrong direction, with Wednesday’s percent positive rate hitting 9.2 percent.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services added 3,367 new lab-confirmed cases bringing the state’s total to 320,862.
Wednesday’s daily percent positive follows the week’s trend as the rate has moved up each day. NCDHHS reported a positive rate of 8.6 percent on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s number is the highest percent positive since it was at 9.6 percent on July 13.
NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said the daily percent positive rate needs to be at 5 percent.
Hospitalizations continue to increase – hitting 1,537 on Wednesday. That’s up 36 patients from Tuesday.
Late last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new reporting requirements for hospitalizations – causing a sharp increase in North Carolina’s numbers.
The new guidance calls for those facilities to report COVID-19-related hospitalizations for the entire length of a patient’s stay. Previously, the federal agency only required the reporting of patients during the time they were under isolation precautions — a period of time that usually reached a maximum of 21 days.
A total of 4,898 deaths are being attributed to the virus, 36 more than Tuesday.
Here are the latest updates from local counties:
- Bertie 812 cases– 22 deaths (+7 cases)
- Camden 163 cases – 3 deaths (+1 case)
- Chowan 575 cases – 17 deaths (+1 case, -1 death)
- Currituck 292 cases – 4 deaths (+7 cases)
- Dare 554 cases — 3 deaths (+6 cases)
- Gates 188 cases – 5 deaths (+2 cases)
- Hertford 927 cases – 39 deaths (+5 cases, +1 death)
- Pasquotank 1,007 cases – 35 deaths (+5 cases)
- Perquimans 303 cases – 4 deaths (+10 cases)
