NC Coronavirus: Death Count Now Up to 253, More Than 7,600 Cases

NORTH CAROLINA — The new coronavirus outbreak in North Carolina has now claimed at least 253 lives, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday morning. The increase is 11 more deaths from the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, reported in the state since Wednesday.

The cumulative number of known COVID-19 cases in the state jumped by 388 overnight, and is now at 7,608. Hospitalizations also rose to 486 since Wednesday, reflecting an increase of 56, NC DHHS said.

The new batch of data released April 23 by state public health officials shows that laboratories in the state have completed at least 96,185 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 about 49 percent of the state's death toll.

As of Thursday, at least 2,065 people have tested positive at North Carolina congregate living facilities as COVID-19 outbreaks were reported in 40 nursing homes, 14 residential care facilities and at least 12 correctional facilities, NC DHHS said.

According to NC DHHS, a survey of almost 90 percent of the state's hospitals shows that 693 of the available 3,039 ventilators in North Carolina are in use as of Thursday, 14 more than were in use Wednesday. That represents about 23 percent of the state's ventilators are currently in use. When it comes to intensive care unit beds, 872 beds, or about 27 percent, of 3,223 beds are filled.

Globally, nearly 2.7 million have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 185,000 people have lost their lives, Johns Hopkins University reported Thursday morning. In the U.S., at least 46,851 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 Gov. Roy Cooper said residents can expect details later this week about how the state intends to go forward with easing restrictions put in place to slow the spread of new coronavirus.

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.

"We understand that we cannot stay at home forever and that this is not sustainable long term," Cooper said. "But what we have to do is ease back into it and make sure that this virus does not spike, which it very easily could do and overwhelm our hospitals."

State public health officials also said this week they are working with food processing plants to implement Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations to protect workers and the food supply, after coronavirus outbreaks were reported at five food processing plants, state officials announced Tuesday.

The outbreaks, which are defined as two or more cases, were reported at facilities in Bladen, Chatham, Duplin, Lee and Robeson counties, according to state Department of Health and Human Services.

"We are in contact with the companies, public health officials and our federal inspection partners," Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a statement Tuesday. "The companies are working to implement recommendations of the CDC and state public health and local officials to keep these facilities operating and producing a stable supply of safe and nutritious food."

According to health department, the food processing plants report that they are conducting temperature and symptom checks of employees, encouraging sick employees to stay home, implementing paid sick leave, providing personal protective equipment and employing social distancing policies where possible.

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