Across NC, 10% of those in the hospital, 25% of those in ICU have COVID-19
North Carolina reached a new record Monday – 1,966 – of people being treated in hospitals for the coronavirus. Health experts expect that number to continue to climb over the coming weeks, especially since so many traveled over the holiday and held in-person dinners indoors.
COVID-19 cases make up about 10% of the people in hospital beds across the state and 25% of the people being treated in intensive care units, according to data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Regular hospital beds are 70% full; ICU beds are 77% occupied.
Hospitalizations have been on a steady climb in North Carolina since the beginning of November.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday that the U.S. may see “surge upon a surge” of the coronavirus in the weeks after Thanksgiving, and he does not expect current recommendations around social distancing to be relaxed before Christmas.
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States topped 200,000 for the first time Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Since January, when the first infections were reported in the U.S., the nation's total number of cases has surpassed 13 million. More than 265,000 people have died.
In North Carolina, 5,261 people have died of the virus since the pandemic began in March. More than 364,000 have tested positive, although many people experience no symptoms and most recover. The latest estimate from the DHHS shows 293,555 believed recovered in North Carolina, or about 80.5%.
A surge in testing ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday came along with a sharp increase in the number of positive tests. On Saturday, the rate of positive tests was 9.5%, the highest it's been since the middle of July. The seven-day, rolling average is 7.84% of tests returned positive, well above the 5% target set by the state.
