North Carolina Reports New Peak In COVID-19 Hospitalizations

CHARLOTTE, NC — North Carolina's percent of positive coronavirus tests rose to nearly 10 percent Monday, as state public health officials reported a new record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations throughout the state.

As of Nov. 30, North Carolina reported a tally of 364,512 coronavirus cases, of which 2,734 reported in the span of a day.

Hospitalizations rose to a new statewide high to 1,966 patients, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services data.

DHHS reported that about 77 percent of the state's staffed intensive care unit beds were in use as of Nov. 30, leaving 554 staffed ICU beds empty. About 70 percent of the state's staffed inpatient beds were in use, leaving about 6,221 empty beds available.

Also up, according to DHHS data, is the percent of tests coming back positive for the virus. As of Nov. 30, 9.5 percent of tests were positive, up from an average of about 5 percent reported in September.

The COVID-19 death toll also increased across the state. At least 21 deaths were reported since Sunday, raising the total of lives lost to the virus in North Carolina to 5,261, DHHS said.

As of Monday, there were 26 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 612 positive COVID-19 cases were associated with K-12 school clusters, DHHS said.

Globally, nearly 63 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 1.4 million people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Monday. In the United States, more than 13.4 million people have been infected and more than 267,000 people have died from COVID-19.