NC reports new highest single-day jump of COVID-19 cases as percent positive rate dips

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported a new biggest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with 2,885 new cases reported.

The increase marks the third day in a row that the state recorded more than 2,000 cases.

The spike in cases was accompanied by a sharp increase in completed tests after that number had decreased for five days. The state reported 36,124 more completed COVID-19 tests.

The percentage of positive tests dropped to 6.4%. Health officials have repeatedly said they would like to see this metric fall to 5% and lower.

Currently, 1,181 people are hospitalized in the state with COVID-19, with 97% of hospitals reporting. In the past 24 hours, 289 suspected COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals statewide.

While all hospital regions still have the capacity for more patients, health leaders have said some rural hospitals are running out of space.

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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 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.

Cox Media Group