NC Coronavirus Update: Death Toll Now At 152; Nearly 6K Infected

CHARLOTTE, NC — There are now nearly 6,000 people in North Carolina confirmed to have the new coronavirus, as state public health officials report 21 new coronavirus-related deaths Friday morning.

The number of confirmed cases in North Carolina was 5,859, NC Department of Health and Human Services said at 11 a.m. April 17. At least 152 deaths throughout the state are now attributed to the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.

Coronavirus fatalities have more than doubled in the past seven days in the state. One week ago, there were 3,908 confirmed cases, and 74 coronavirus-related deaths reported in North Carolina.

While the number of cases reported throughout the state surged by nearly 400 since Thursday, hospitalizations dipped by 23 cases to 429, according to NC DHHS data.

Also up, according to the data, is the number of outbreaks confirmed in congregate living facilities in the state, including 35 nursing homes, 11 residential care facilities and seven correctional facilities.

The counties with nursing home outbreaks include Bertie, Burke, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cleveland, Columbus (two facilities), Cumberland, Date, Davidson, Durham (three facilities), Franklin, Henderson (three facilities), Johnston, Moore, Orange (two facilities), Mecklenburg (five facilities), Northampton, Rowan (two facilities), Stokes, Union, Wake (two facilities), Wayne and Wilson.

At 1,136 cases, Mecklenburg County has the largest number of residents who are confirmed to have COVID-19, which has claimed at least 21 lives in the county.

Following the Charlotte metro, Wake County has reported 566 cases and three deaths, following by Durham County (360 cases, four deaths), Wayne County (239 cases, four deaths), Rowan County (220 cases, 10 deaths) and Cabarrus County (201 cases, three deaths).

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According to NC DHHS, a survey of nearly 90 percent of the state's hospitals shows that 719 of the available 3,128 ventilators in North Carolina are in use as of Friday. That represents a nearly 23 percent of the state's ventilators are currently in use. When it comes to intensive care unit beds, 915 beds, or nearly 29 percent, of 3,223 beds are filled.

Statewide, those ages 25 to 49 continue to be the hardest hit category when it comes to the number of laboratory-confirmed cases, according to NC DHHS data, claiming 37 percent of the COVID-19 cases, followed by those ages 50 to 64 (28 percent of cases). While those 65 and older represent 27 percent of cases so far in the state, the age category has suffered 84 percent of coronavirus-related deaths in North Carolina.

Globally, nearly 2.2 million people have been infected and more than 147,000 people have died from the new coronavirus, Johns Hopkins reported Friday afternoon. Of that total, more than 672,000 cases have been confirmed in the United States.

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:

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