NC COVID-19 Update: 30 Deaths, Nearly 12K Presumed Recovered

NORTH CAROLINA — Coronavirus is to blame for at least 30 new deaths in North Carolina, according to the latest batch of data released by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday afternoon. The new deaths increase the state's COVID-19 death toll to 691.

State public health officials also confirmed 677 new cases since Monday, for a total of 19,700 cases. As of May 18, an estimated 11,637 residents who were confirmed to have the coronavirus are considered likely recovered, NC DHHS said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 585 people hospitalized with coronavirus-related illness, 74 more than reported Monday. The increase represents North Carolina's largest spike in hospitalization in weeks.

According to the state agency, a survey of about 92 percent of the state's hospitals shows that 747 of the available 3,464 ventilators in North Carolina are in use as of Tuesday afternoon. 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.

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 9,253 tests on Tuesday, which increased the total number of tests processed in the state to 265,008. The state's goal is to test between 5,000 and 7,000 people per day.

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COVID-19 outbreaks in congregate living facilities, such as nursing homes, residential care facilities and correctional facilities included 4,413 confirmed cases Tuesday, or about 22 percent of the total cases in the state, according to NC DHHS data.

As of Tuesday, there were 77 nursing homes with COVID-19 outbreaks, up from 71 reported late last week. Outbreaks in residential care facilities have increased to 28, up from 25 reported May 14. There are also 18 correctional facilities with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, according to NC DHHS.

At least 369 nursing home residents, 54 residential care facility residents and 14 inmates in North Carolina have died from coronavirus-related illness.

Mecklenburg County continues to report the most number of positive cases. As of Tuesday, 2,695 people had tested positive and 69 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the county, DHHS said.

In the Research Triangle, Wake County reported 1,272 confirmed cases and 30 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon. Durham County reported 1,053 confirmed cases and 38 deaths.

Avery County reported its first COVID-19 case Tuesday, confirming the coronavirus is now present in all 100 counties in North Carolina.

Globally, more than 4.6 million have been infected by COVID-19, and at least 297,000 people have lost their lives, Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday morning. In the U.S., more than 1.5 million people have been infected and at least 90,994 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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