NC COVID-19 Jan. 18 Update: Positivity rate rises to 33.3%, over 4,600 currently hospitalized

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

Daily COVID-19 cases in the state are up with 31,902 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours.

On Tuesday, state health officials say some laboratory tests from Premier Lab Solutions were not submitted to NCDHHS between Dec. 31 and Jan. 14.

As a result, 46,983 test results (including 8,094 positive results) from this period were not included in the data on the NCDHHS data dashboard.

Although they were not reported at that time, officials say the issue did not cause any delays in results being sent to patients or providers.

The issue with the submission of results from Premier Lab Solutions to NCDHHS has been resolved; case and test data reported for Tuesday, were higher as it will incorporate data that would have been reported on earlier dates.

Hospitalizations are still on the rise with 4,630 patients currently hospitalized in the state due to the virus. So far, COVID-19 has taken 20,000 lives in North Carolina.

Overall, the state has reported 2,130,403 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The state’s daily positivity rate is at 33.3%.

The NCDHHS does not report COVID-19 metrics over the weekend, however they are recorded. State health officials saw 34,391 cases on Saturday, 30,500 on Sunday, and 22,308 during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Local Counties Metrics:
 
Gates 1,531 – 19 deaths
Bertie 3,626 – 57 deaths
Camden 1,527 – 9 deaths
Chowan 3,374 – 46 deaths
Currituck 3,970 – 31 deaths
Dare 6,100 – 18 deaths
Hertford 4,092 – 77 deaths
Pasquotank 6,796 – 111 deaths
Perquimans 2,255 – 17 deaths

Percent of Adult Population Partially Vaccinated: 74%
Percent of Adult Population Fully Vaccinated: 70%