New Record Number Of COVID-19 Cases Reported In North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina reported 2,908 newly confirmed coronavirus cases Friday, marking a new record number of new cases in the state in the span of one day.

The new cases push the state's total number of known cases to 288,569, and come as top public health officials express concern about what lies ahead for the state in the winter months ahead. At least 34 deaths from coronavirus-related illness were reported throughout the state since Thursday, increasing the death toll to 4,582 lives lost to the virus since March.

"We need to get these numbers down," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday during a new conference. "We are concerned about where North Carolina is," he said.

Thursday, North Carolina reported more than 2,800 new cases, a trend that occurred at least three days last week.

SEE ALSO: NC COVID-19: Cases Trending High, 41 New Deaths

"These are our highest daily numbers so far, and this is concerning, particularly as our weather turns colder and people are gathering indoors, which carries a higher risk," North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said.

Friday, a survey of 95 percent of the state's hospitals indicated that hospitalizations dipped slightly to 1,1161 patients, 32 fewer than reported the day prior, DHHS said.

Despite the daily fluctuation, overall hospitalizations have increased since September, Cohen said.

"Overall, we're too high as we head into the winter months when hospitals have stretched capacity even in non-COVID years due to flu and other viruses that are circulating in the winter," she said.

As of Friday, there were 36 COVID-19 clusters reported in K-12 schools in North Carolina. DHHS defines a cluster as five or more lab-confirmed cases that are linked. At least 417 positive COVID-19 cases were associated with K-12 school clusters, DHHS said.

Globally, more than 48.9 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 1.2 million people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Friday. In the United States, more than 9.6 million people have been infected and more than 235,000 people have died from COVID-19.