NC tops 50,000 coronavirus cases
Coronavirus has infected more than 50,000 people in North Carolina.
After taking eight weeks to record it's first 10,000 cases, the intervals have grown shorter over each succeeding 10,000 – three weeks to get to 20,000, two to get to 30,000 and eight days each to get to 40,000 and now 50,000.
The numbers don't appear to be slowing down any time soon, either.
The number of new cases recorded Friday – 1,652 – was the second-greatest daily increase since the outbreak began. About 9 percent of the tests were positive, and the state has seen 8-10 percent positive results in recent weeks, up from the 7 percent range last month.
The state also hit a record for the fourth day in a row in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19, the illness associated with the virus. That total bounced to 871, up 15 from the day before.
That makes six days out of the past seven that the number of hospitalizations reached a new high.
Total COVID-19 cases, deaths by zip code
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The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services began releasing zip code-level data on cases and deaths on May 1. Search by zip code to find the rates of cases and deaths for your area. Aggregate counts are based on where patients live. DHHS has supressed counts for some zip codes with populations of less than 500 and cases less than five due to privacy concerns. Population estimates for each zip code, included in the state's data, were calculated by Esri Inc. through a state contract. Due to differences in zip code geographies used in a new version of the state's dashboard launched May 20, some case and deaths counts here may differ slightly from that new dashboard. To stay consistent, WRAL is using state data originally published May 1 and updated by DHHS daily through its ArcGIS site. NOTE: As of Sept. 28, the data on this map includes cases and deaths identified both through PCR and antigen tests.
Source: N.C. DHHS
Graphic: Tyler Dukes, WRAL // Get the data
Many people who contract the coronavirus show no symptoms. Others suffer what feels like a wicked case of the flu. But for 1,235 in North Carolina, the coronavirus has been fatal.
Because state guidance has limited the number of people tested to those with symptoms, those in high-risk positions like medical or correctional facilities, those with a known exposure and, more recently, those who have been in a crowd, the true spread of the virus is impossible to measure.
Of the state's 50,000 reported cases, about 30,000 are believed to have recovered.
Most cases are young or middle-age adults
Also according to North Carolina's numbers, almost half of all people who have tested positive, 45 percent, are between 25 and 49. Twenty percent are 24 and under, but people in that age group make up basically 0 percent of all deaths.
Just 7 percent of people with the virus are over 75, but more than 70 percent of state deaths are in that age group.
Cases trending upward, deaths flatten curve
Over the past seven days, North Carolina's curve of cases has been just about flat, with an average of 1,227 new cases per day.
The state has pretty much flattened the curve of deaths from the novel coronavirus. Over the past seven days, an average of 15 people per day have lost their lives. Overall, 1,262 people have died in North Carolina during the pandemic.
