NC COVID-19 Update: Nearly 6,000 New Cases In A Day

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina reported 5,936 new COVID-19 cases Monday as the state's death toll rose by 11, according to state public health officials.

As of Jan. 11, the state's tally of coronavirus cases increased to 629,124 known cases, and nearly 14 percent of tests were positive, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said.

At least 7,578 deaths in the state are attributed to COVID-19, the agency said.

COVID-19 hospitalizations also rose throughout the state Monday. At least 3,843 patients were hospitalized for coronavirus-related illness, 69 more than reported Sunday. A survey of 94 percent of North Carolina hospitals indicated the state had 388 staffed intensive care unit beds and 5,200 staffed inpatient hospital beds remaining available.

"In the 10 months that we've been fighting this pandemic, this is the most worried that I've been for our state," DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said Friday. "We continue to set new records."

Those new records include intensive care unit hospitalizations, which have led many hospitals to put a halt to non-urgent procedures to free up staff, she said.

Cohen credited the dramatic rise in cases in North Carolina to exponential growth and general fatigue of following pandemic guidelines, as well as people letting their guard down around the holidays.

"We know that there was holiday travel. We know that these increased cases are linked to the fact that folks are getting together indoors and not wearing their mask," Cohen said.

SEE ALSO: Highly Contagious COVID-19 Variant Likely In NC: DHHS Secretary

On the horizon, is another factor: A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 that is likely already circulating in North Carolina, she said.

The variant, which is no more dangerous than the original virus but is much more easily transmitted from person to person, was first found in the United States Tuesday in Colorado. Officials in the U.K. claimed, without verification, that the new variant is as much as 53 to 70 percent more contagious than the original virus that originated in China, prompting new shutdowns in London. Both vaccines approved for usage in the United States are believed to be effective in protecting against the multiple variants of the coronavirus. Ongoing tests are being conducted in England to determine antibody and vaccine efficacy in protecting against the new variant.

"It is possible that that variant is here. In fact, it is likely," Cohen said. While it has not been identified in North Carolina, public health officials are operating under the assumption it is circulating, she said.

"We are operating as if it's already here and that we need to realize that this virus was already contagious before, and now it's even more contagious as we go forward," she said.

Paige Austin, Patch staff, contributed