22 COVID-19 Deaths In NC, New Hospitalization Record

CHARLOTTE, NC — Hospitalization for coronavirus illnesses rose to a new record number in North Carolina Tuesday as the state reported nearly two dozen new deaths from the virus. State labs confirmed 1,346 cases of novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, since Monday, increasing the state's total to nearly 76,000 confirmed cases, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services data.

The state's virus-related death tally rose to 1,420 Tuesday, 22 deaths higher than reported Monday.

As of Monday, 10 percent of COVID-19 tests conducted in the state were positive.

Since Monday, hospitalizations rose by seven patients to 989 patients, marking the third day of increases and the highest number of patients treated for COVID-19 reported in the state yet, according to data.

Hospital capacity remains available throughout North Carolina, according to a DHHS survey of about 89 percent of the state's hospitals. According to DHHS, there were 5,371 staffed inpatient hospital beds and 568 intensive care unit beds that remained empty in the state as of July 7. Ventilator readiness remained stable with 73 percent — or about 2,457 — of the state's supply available for use.

Overall, North Carolina has available hospital capacity, however, capacity can vary regionally, DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said during a news conference Tuesday.

"One of the places we're watching closely is the Charlotte area, in terms of hospital capacity. That is a place where we've seen higher rates of hospitalizations," she said.

While hospitalizations have gone up across the state, use of intensive care unit beds has remained stable. "That is a good sign," Cohen said. "We're seeing more patients in the hospital but less of them needing that highest level of severe care," she said.

As of Tuesday, 10 COVID-19 cases were confirmed stemming from two school-based clusters reported in Iredell and Union counties. Additionally, 57 COVID-19 cases were associated with seven clusters reported at child care centers throughout the state, DHHS said.

DHHS said it estimated 55,318 patients were presumed recovered from symptoms as of July 6. The agency said it "estimates a median time to recovery of 14 days from the date of specimen collection for non-fatal COVID-19 cases who were not hospitalized, or if hospitalization status is unknown."

As of Tuesday, North Carolina state and commercial labs had completed nearly 1.1 million tests.

Late last week, DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen reported that North Carolina was running into critical shortages of chemicals needed to conduct coronavirus testing, which is slowing down the turnaround time for test results.

Don't miss the latest coronavirus updates from health and government officials in North Carolina. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters for what you need to know daily.

"Commercial and hospital labs across the country and labs here in North Carolina are again running into shortages of important chemicals call reagents that are needed to process those lab tests," she said. "Federal help and action is needed to address these supply issues right now."

The supply issues are delaying some test results by as much as week, she said.

Globally, more than 11.6 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 539,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday. In the United States, nearly 3 million people have been infected and more than 130,000 people have died from COVID-19.

SEE ALSO:

• Readers Say Too Soon For NC Schools To Safely Reopen: Survey
• No Decision On School Openings As NC Sees Record COVID-19 Jump