After two days of declines, the number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations in North Carolina increased Tuesday, up 32 to 829. That’s the highest number to-date. Two weeks ago, the number of hospitalizations was 716, while a month ago it was 481.
751 additional cases were reported Tuesday, for a total of 45,853. That’s lower than the 7-day average. An additional 36 deaths were reported, for a total of 1,154. There have now been 600 deaths in North Carolina nursing homes, and a total of 4,007 cases. There are 107 ongoing outbreaks.
Nearly 13,000 coronavirus tests were conducted on Monday. 9% of those were positive, up from 8% the previous day. For the past few weeks positive rates have generally been in the 8 to 10% range, with officials wanting to see that number closer to 5%.
Mecklenburg health officials Tuesday reported 7,117 COVID-19 cases and 133 deaths among county residents. About 1 in 10 reported cases were hospitalized due to coronavirus. Hospitalizations continue to increase in Mecklenburg County as well, with an average of 106 people hospitalized at acute care facilities in the county over the past week.
The percentage of positive tests in Mecklenburg is a bit higher than the state average. 11% of people tested by Atrium Health and Novant Health over the past 14 days were positive, an increase over the previous two weeks.
Out of those who have died from COVID-19 in Mecklenburg County, most deaths were among people 60 and older, with 11 deaths of adults ages 40 to 59. All deaths except two occurred among people with underlying chronic illnesses.