COVID-19 in the Carolinas: Nearly 12,000 more NC patients presumed recovered

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported at least 1,827 new COVID-19 cases Monday morning as the state reported 20,889 completed COVID-19 tests (percent positive of nearly 9%). It is the 20th consecutive day North Carolina has reported more than 1,000 new cases.

DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said this week she would like to see the percent positive number fall to 5%.

Hospitalizations dipped again to 1,040 after Saturday’s record high of 1,093 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, however, only 80% of hospitals reported their data to NCDHHS on Monday.

Currently, 25% of hospital in-patient beds and 23% of intensive care unit beds are available statewide.

NCDHHS also reported 11,806 new COVID-19 recoveries this week, for a total of 67,124 patients presumed to be recovered.

Because NCDHHS and North Carolina hospitals do not track when individual patients recover from COVID-19, the department provides a number of patients presumed to be recovered each week based on an average recovery period of 14 days for non-hospitalized patients and 28 days for hospitalized patients.

However, it is unclear at this time whether those patients are still infectious and could spread the disease to others in the state.

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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 7-day average for cases is about 1,800.

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.

In South Carolina, the Department of Health and Environmental Control announced Monday 1,532 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 13 additional confirmed deaths. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 58,003 and confirmed deaths to 961.

The total number of individual test results reported to DHEC on Sunday statewide was 7,230 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 21.2%.

There are currently 1,488 hospital beds occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19, and 205 of those patients are currently on ventilators.

WHAT ABOUT CLOSER TO HOME?

As of Sunday morning, there were 15,024 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 159 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents.

Mecklenburg County, Atrium Health and Novant Health released the following joint statement on hospitalizations in the county due to COVID-19:

“Charlotte’s hospitals currently have the capacity to care for additional COVID-19 patients. Both Atrium Health and Novant Health have been working diligently on preparedness plans, which includes increasing bed capacity and reinforcing supply chains. We’re confident that because of these efforts, there will not be a need to again postpone non-emergent appointments or elective surgeries at this time. These services are vital to maintain for the health of our communities.

“While today we are not concerned about our capacity or preparedness to manage COVID-19 cases, we do share the state’s concerns about the trends we’re seeing.

“The latest Public Health data release shows that over the last week, an average of 175 patients are hospitalized in Mecklenburg County for COVID-19 treatment. While our ICU cases and ventilations remain steady, we are seeing an increase of cases that require hospitalization particularly among younger patients. Overall, approximately 20% of our hospital beds are open with 80% of our intensive care unit beds available at this time.

“Our hope is that we won’t need to use our added beds and we’ll begin to see a reversal in these trends. It’s critical our communities continue to take COVID-19 seriously and follow recommended safety measures. Masking, physical distancing and hand washing is as critical as ever and we urge everyone to educate themselves on how to keep themselves – and their neighbors - safe. This not only helps reduce the spread of COVID-19, but helps our hospitals conserve valuable resources like PPE and continue providing care to all who need it.”

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MONDAY STORYLINES:

Monday, Mecklenburg County leaders will meet with doctors from the Centers for Disease Control to talk about the county’s response to coronavirus. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield is expected to talk about the importance of contact tracing.

It comes as North Carolina set one-day highs for new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations on Saturday. The meeting is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. and you can watch it live on Channel 9.

Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to make an announcement this week on what is happening with schools in North Carolina nearly one month before students are set to go back. Cooper was supposed to make an announcement on back to school plans two weeks ago, but he canceled the announcement, saying he needed more time.

During a news conference last week, Cooper did seem to indicate the plan would include a combination of in-person and remote learning. It’s not clear when exactly this week he will make his announcement.

If you live in Rowan County and you need to be tested for COVID-19, you will have plenty of opportunities this week.

A testing site will be set up Monday at the West End Plaza on Jake Alexander Boulevard in Salisbury. This is happening from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. If you can’t make it Monday, more testing will be offered at the Northern Rowan Family Medicine Practice on Salisbury Avenue in Spencer on Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.

Testing is free and available to anyone.

Contact tracers face resistance, difficulties in notifying people to quarantine Contact tracers face resistance, difficulties in notifying people to quarantine

Weekend brings tough virus milestones for South Carolina

South Carolina’s coronavirus case count continues to climb with the state reporting an additional 1,950 confirmed cases Sunday, after adding a single-day high of more than 2,200 cases a day earlier.

State health officials say a spike in cases in being driven, in part, by young people.

There have been more than 56,400 total confirmed cases of the coronavirus in South Carolina, according to data from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Experts say official counts likely only capture a fraction of those who’ve been infected. At least 950 people in South Carolina who contracted the virus have died.

The state also reported its first coronavirus death in a child under the age of five as well as its first cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children associated with COVID-19 this weekend. Both children are under the age of 10.

Mecklenburg County to get advice from CDC director on COVID-19 response Mecklenburg County to get advice from CDC director on COVID-19 response

Cox Media Group