North Carolina Coronavirus: 586 New Cases, Over 5,600 New Tests

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina's number of laboratory-confirmed cases of the new coronavirus increased by 586 and 21 more deaths were reported from Friday to Saturday, according to the latest public health data. The latest totals are 11,509 cases and 420 deaths. COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, is present in 98 of 100 counties.

Current hospitalizations decreased from 547 to 502 in the last day, NC DHHS data showed. According to the state agency, a survey of about 86 percent of the state's hospitals shows that 699 of the available 3,281 ventilators in North Carolina are in use as of Saturday. That represents an increase of six from Friday and is not COVID-19-specific. About 21 percent of the state's ventilators are currently in use.

In the intensive care units (ICU), 871 beds, or about 27 percent, of 3,223 beds are filled. That's up from 829 ICU beds used Friday.

As of 11 a.m. Saturday, 139,475 people have been tested in the state, an increase of 5,643 from the previous day. Gov. Roy Cooper had indicated a goal of conducting 5,000 to 7,000 daily in the state as a metric for easing coronavirus-related restrictions. Cooper will also look for a downward trend of the percentage of positive tests among all tests performed. North Carolina had two days in mid-April with 17 percent positive tests among total tests. The positive test percentage on May 1 was 7 percent, one of the lower percentages since the crisis began in North Carolina.

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North Carolina's nursing homes have experienced 54 outbreaks, defined as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases, followed by 22 outbreaks in residential care facilities and 14 in correctional facilities. In all, 1,824 cases and 198 deaths have impacted nursing homes; deaths reported in these facilities account for just below half of the state's deaths tied to COVID-19. There are 999 cases and nine deaths tied to correctional facilities, and 360 cases and 35 deaths are reported at residential care facilities, which can include adult care homes, family care homes, multi-unit assisted housing, group homes and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Globally, more than 3.4 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and over 242,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Friday morning. In the U.S., more than 1.1 million people have been infected and over 66,000 people have died from COVID-19.