North Carolina health officials Wednesday reported 994 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the state, an increase of 5 from the previous day. It was the third straight day the total set a record high. South Carolina also saw another record high number of coronavirus hospitalizations with 1,404.
An additional 1,435 new COVID-19 cases were reported in North Carolina for a total of 77,310. There were 21 new coronavirus-related deaths, and a total of 1,441. In South Carolina there were 1,537 new cases and 38 deaths, with 48,770 cases and 876 deaths overall.
Mecklenburg County has had 13,489 cases, up 172 from the previous day. 4 additional deaths were reported for a total of 158. The county also has 16 ongoing outbreaks in nursing homes, 10 in residential care facilities, 2 in child care settings and 1 in a correctional facility.
The state health department this week launched the Community testing in High-priority And Marginalized Populations (CHAMP) initiative to increase access to free coronavirus testing for African American, LatinX/Hispanic and American Indian communities that have limited testing sites currently. Officials say a disproportionately high percentage of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina have occurred in historically marginalized populations, along with higher rates of COVID-19 mortality and serious complications. During the month of July as many as 300 temporary testing sites will be set up.
“Increasing access to free testing is key to our ability to respond to and contain COVID-19,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, M.D. “This targeted testing initiative seeks to confront historical health disparities by increasing COVID-19 testing capacity in underserved communities across the state.”