NC Confirms Nearly 10K Coronavirus Cases As Deaths Surpass 350

NORTH CAROLINA — The numbers of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in North Carolina rose by 380 overnight, bringing the cumulative total near 10,000, state public health officials said Wednesday morning. The Department of Health and Human Services reported a dozen new deaths in the state since Tuesday, as 9,948 people have confirmed positive for the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.

As of Wednesday morning, COVID-19, had claimed the lives of at least 354 residents of North Carolina, NC DHHS said.

Out of 100 counties, COVID-19 is present in all except Avery and Yancy counties.

Hospitalizations rose by 88 patients overnight to 551, NC DHHS said.

The new batch of data released April 29 by state public health officials shows that laboratories in the state have completed at least 112,752 tests, nearly 6,000 more than conducted Tuesday.

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The number of outbreaks confirmed in congregate living facilities in the state, such as nursing homes and residential care facilities, continues to rise as deaths reported in these facilities claim about half of the state's death toll.

Earlier this week, DHHS reversed course and are now identifying specific facility locations where outbreaks are occurring. The news of the new set of data, which will be updated twice a week going forward, comes after DHHS faced intense criticism for withholding the names of facilities, the Charlotte Observer reported.

As of Wednesday morning, at least 2,878 people had tested positive at North Carolina congregate living facilities as COVID-19 outbreaks were reported in 49 nursing homes, 20 residential care facilities and at least 13 correctional facilities, DHHS said.

According to the state agency, a survey of about 93 percent of the state's hospitals shows that 759 of the available 3,193 ventilators in North Carolina are in use as of Wednesday. That represents about 24 percent of the state's ventilators are currently in use. When it comes to intensive care unit beds, 839 beds, or about 26 percent, of 3,223 beds are filled.

Globally, nearly 3.2 million have been infected by COVID-19, and nearly 220,000 people have lost their lives, Johns Hopkins University reported Wednesday afternoon. In the U.S., more than 1 million people have been infected and at least 58,965 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 98 of North Carolina's 100 counties, along with the number of cases by county and the number of deaths:

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