RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Roy Cooper and his coronavirus task force gave an update Tuesday afternoon on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic across North Carolina as key metrics continue to trend in the right direction.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 997 new COVID-19 cases -- the first time the state has reported fewer than 1,000 cases in a day since September.
As of Tuesday, 1,147 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state. That number also continues to trend downward as 89 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the past 24 hours.
As of Monday, just one in 20 COVID-19 tests came back positive each day for the last week, marking the first time the state has met its weekly positivity target.
[ County-by-county guide: Here’s when, where you can get the COVID-19 vaccine ]
Cooper said 10.6% of North Carolinians are currently vaccinated, with 1.1 million people having received both doses of the vaccine.
More than 7,000 people have received the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, according to the governor, who said North Carolina’s mission remains “fast and fair” when it comes to vaccinating people.
”Today, I’m proud to share that our state has fully vaccinated more than 1.1 million people,” Cooper said. “With almost 8 million adults in our state, there is more work to do -- but this is a huge milestone.”
Though cases are on the decline, Cooper urged people to remain vigilant.
”Let’s not get caught celebrating too early,” he said. “Let’s keep wearing our masks and being responsible so that one day soon we can turn the corner on this pandemic.”
>> Have questions about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the Carolinas? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the outbreak -- CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
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[COUNTY-BY-COUNTY COVID-19 RESOURCE GUIDE]
[CORONAVIRUS IN THE CAROLINAS; HERE’S HOW TO STAY INFORMED]
Note: The numbers we show you every day mean everything in how our community recovers from coronavirus -- both in terms of healthcare and the economy -- but they don’t mean much without the proper context and as much transparency as possible.
New cases vary day by day based on a lot of factors. That can include how long it takes to get results back, so a new case reported today can really be several days old.
The other big metric we watch is the percent of positive cases. This is data we can only get from the state because it’s not as simple as factoring a percent of new cases each day from the number of tests. That’s because test results take days and come from a variety of places.
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