RALEIGH, N.C. — Another 3,444 people have tested positive for coronavirus in North Carolina, and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 hit a new high, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported Saturday.
The daily report indicates that the November spike in cases shows few signs of abating. In the second half of the month, 3,365 people a day on average have tested positive for coronavirus, up from about 2,370 a day in the first two weeks of the month.
The state averaged fewer than 2,000 new cases a day in October.
Increased testing explains some of the increase, but the portion of people testing positive has also risen, from a seven-day rolling average of about 6.5% at the beginning of the month to 7.2% now.
The state reported that 1,840 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Friday, surpassing the previous peak of 1,800 the day before. Of those being treated, 450 were in an intensive care unit, also a new high.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month changed the criteria for COVID-19 hospitalizations, which helped boost the state's numbers by more than 10% on Nov. 13. Since then, the daily number of people hospitalized has continued to rise, increasing by more than 400.
The number of deaths blamed on COVID-19 in North Carolina has reached 5,219, according to DHHS. Since Nov. 1, 836 North Carolinians have died of COVID-19, nearly 30 a day on average. That's twice the death rate in June, when the respiratory disease was blamed for just under 15 deaths a day.
Rural counties continue to see higher numbers of cases per capita in North Carolina. In the last two weeks, 19 counties have averaged 61 or more cases per 10,000 residents a day, and only one of them, Forsyth in the Triad, included one of the state's largest cities.
The highest per capita case counts in the last two weeks were in Avery County in the mountains and Columbus County in the southeast corner of the state, each with more than 100 cases per 10,000 residents per day in the last two weeks. In contrast, Wake averaged 34, Durham 33, Orange 27 and Mecklenburg 40, according to DHHS.
