CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina health officials reported another new single-day high in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services reported 6,438 new cases and 2,191 people are hospitalized statewide due to COVID-19.
NCDHHS Sec. Mandy Cohen released a statement following the data released yesterday, calling the development "worrisome."
"In less than a week, we went from exceeding 5,000 new cases reported in one day to exceeding 6,000," Cohen said. "We are seeing our highest rates of tests that come back positive despite the fact we are doing a lot of testing. This indicates we have even more viral spread across our state right now."
Statewide there have been a total of 394,990 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 5,543 coronavirus-related deaths.
According to state data, North Carolina's new record brings the two-week average daily cases up above 4,000. That means the state is averaging roughly twice the new infections each day that it was during its previous peak viral spread back in July.