26 New Coronavirus Deaths Reported In North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina's number of new coronavirus cases rose by 622 confirmed cases Friday, for a total of 17,129 cases confirmed in the state, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, was also reportedly to blame for 26 new deaths in the state since Wednesday, increasing the state's total death count to 641.

For the second day in a row, hospitalizations improved, according to data. As of Friday morning, there were 492 people hospitalized for coronavirus-related illness, down from 507 reported Thursday.

State public health officials say increases in the number of confirmed cases are expected as testing ramps up throughout North Carolina. The state collected results from 12,279 tests on Friday, which increased the total number of tests processed in the state to 231,547. The state's goal is to test between 5,000 and 7,000 people per day.

According to the state agency, a survey of about 94 percent of the state's hospitals shows that 765 of the available 3,475 ventilators in North Carolina are in use as of Friday morning. That represents about 22 percent of the state's ventilators currently in use. When it comes to intensive care unit beds, 719 beds, or about 22 percent, of 3,223 beds are filled.

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The spread of COVID-19 in congregate living facilities throughout the state also increased by 134 cases since Thursday, to a total of 4,073 confirmed cases. One new nursing home outbreak was reported since Thursday, bringing the total number of nursing home facilities with staff and/or residents with COVID-19 to 72.

Outbreaks in residential care facilities also increased by one facility, for a total of 26. There are also 17 correctional facilities with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, one fewer than reported Thursday, according to data released by NC DHHS.

Congregate living facilities, such as nursing homes, residential care facilities and correctional facilities, account for almost a quarter of the confirmed coronavirus cases in the state but claim more than 60 percent of North Carolina's COVID-19 deaths. At least 338 nursing home residents, 46 residential care facility residents and 14 inmates in North Carolina have died from coronavirus-related illness, NC DHHS said Friday.

Mecklenburg County continues to report the most number of positive cases. As of Friday, 2,385 people in the county had tested positive and 62 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the county, DHHS said.

In the Research Triangle, Wake County reported 1,143 confirmed cases and 28 deaths as of Friday. Durham County reported 938 confirmed cases and 36 deaths.

Globally, nearly 4.5 million have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 304,000 people have lost their lives, Johns Hopkins University reported Friday afternoon. In the U.S., more than 1.4 million people have been infected and at least 86,228 people have died from COVID-19.

In an attempt to provide as much information to our readers as possible, Patch is publishing a county-by-county breakdown of the coronavirus cases reported in 99 of North Carolina's 100 counties, along with the number of cases by county and the number of deaths:

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