NORTH CAROLINA, USA — North Carolina reached another record for hospitalizations on Wednesday, according to the state health department's latest data.
Here's a quick look at Wednesday's COVID-19 numbers across the state:
- 91,266 LAB-CONFIRMED CASES (UP 1,782)
- 1,284,637 COMPLETED TESTS (UP 26,222)
- 1,568 DEATHS (UP 16)
- 1,142 HOSPITALIZATIONS (UP 33)
Hospitalizations
Hospitalizations reached 1,142, up 33 from Tuesday, and 89% of hospitals reported data. It's important to keep in mind the numbers could change as more hospitals report data from previous days. Eighty-one percent of ICU beds are in use across the state. This includes COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients.
The 28-day graph below shows an upward trend in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
State health leaders are watching the rising trend of hospitalizations closely, and say hospitals are doing a great job of preparing for the possibility of more COVID-19 patients so they won't be overwhelmed.
New Cases
North Carolina's new cases have been trending slightly upward lately but could be showing early signs of stabilization. You can see in the graph below, we reached a record high in new cases (more than 2,400) on July 11. After that, new cases dropped by at least 500 each day. State leaders want to see new cases start to trend downward to further ease mitigation and open businesses.
As of Tuesday, 8% of the total tests were positive. We’ve been hovering between 8% and 10%, and state health leaders hope to be around the 5% mark to further ease mitigation tactics.
Deaths
Forty-two more COVID-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday, the most in a single day. That number sounds scary, but the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services data shows that the death rate is dropping. Plus, deaths are a lagging metric, meaning not all new deaths reported necessarily happened on the same day. NCDHHS's website shows data for daily deaths up to the previous day. Take a look at the downward trend in the graph below.
Here's a look at Wednesday's COVID-19 numbers for our Piedmont Triad counties. None reported new deaths, according to NCDHHS's website.
PIEDMONT TRIAD COUNTIES (AS OF WEDNESDAY, JULY 15)
- ALAMANCE – 1,535 CASES (UP 43), 37 DEATHS
- CASWELL – 156 CASES, 2 DEATHS
- CHATHAM – 1,072 CASES (UP 5), 46 DEATHS
- DAVIDSON – 1,296 CASES (UP 19), 16 DEATHS
- DAVIE – 259 CASES (UP 3), 3 DEATHS
- FORSYTH – 3,850 CASES (UP 65), 40 DEATHS
- GUILFORD – 3,840 CASES (UP 80), 128 DEATHS
- MONTGOMERY – 417 CASES (UP 9), 9 DEATHS
- RANDOLPH – 1,580 CASES (UP 37), 33 DEATHS
- ROCKINGHAM – 322 CASES (UP 12), 2 DEATHS
- STOKES – 176 CASES (UP 6), 1 DEATH
- SURRY – 604 CASES (UP 12), 3 DEATHS
- WILKES – 640 CASES (UP 8), 7 DEATHS
- YADKIN – 395 CASES (UP 6), 5 DEATHS
