NC Coronavirus: 269 Dead, Case Count Now More Than 8,000

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina's outbreak of novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, has now claimed at least 269 lives, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday morning. The increase is 16 more coronavirus-related deaths reported in the state since Thursday.

The cumulative number of known COVID-19 cases in the state jumped by 444 overnight, and is now at 8,052. Hospitalizations dipped slightly to 477, nine fewer than were reported Thursday, NC DHHS said.

The new batch of data released April 24 by state public health officials shows that laboratories in the state have completed at least 100,584 tests.

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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 nearly half — 49 percent — of the state's death toll.

As of Friday, at least 2,156 people have tested positive at North Carolina congregate living facilities as COVID-19 outbreaks were reported in 42 nursing homes, 15 residential care facilities and at least 13 correctional facilities, NC DHHS said.

According to NC DHHS, a survey of almost 90 percent of the state's hospitals shows that 699 of the available 3,233 ventilators in North Carolina are in use as of Friday. That represents nearly 22 percent of the state's ventilators are currently in use. When it comes to intensive care unit beds, 840 beds, or about 26 percent, of 3,223 beds are filled.

Globally, nearly 2.75 million have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 193,000 people have lost their lives, Johns Hopkins University reported Friday morning. In the U.S., at least 50,114 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 in 93 of North Carolina's 100 counties, along with the number of cases by county and the number of deaths:

North Carolina's statewide stay-at-home order put in place last month to slow the spread of novel coronavirus will be extended until May 8, with the future gradual reopening of the state determined by what happens over the next two weeks, Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday afternoon.

"After thorough analysis, it's clear that we are flattening the curve but our state is not ready to lift restrictions yet," he said.

North Carolina public schools have been closed since March 16 and are not scheduled to reopen before May 15. Last month, Cooper also ordered all restaurant dining areas and bars to close. By late March, the state was under a stay-at-home executive order through April 29 that limited gatherings to no more than 10 people and encouraged social distancing of at least 6 feet.

The extension of the stay-at-home order applies to dine-in restaurants, as well as close contact businesses, such as hair and nail salons. Cooper also said the decision about whether public schools will reopen this school year would be announced Friday, April 24.

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