NC COVID-19 Dec. 16 Update: new cases hits two-month high, hospitalizations continue to rise

RALEIGH, N.C. (WAVY) — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released its latest coronavirus statistics on Thursday.

Daily cases in the state are up from yesterday’s report with 4,165 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. That is the highest single-day case count since October 9 and only the second time the state has topped 4,000 cases in the past two months.

In addition, the 7-day moving average of new cases has risen to over 3,200 cases.

Overall, the state has reported 1,585,074 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, the state’s daily positivity rate has dropped to 7.5%.

1,604 people are currently hospitalized with confirmed or pending cases of COVID-19 – up 43 patients from yesterday. That is the highest number of people hospitalized since October 23.

27% of those are in the ICU, while 13% are currently on a ventilator. In addition, the state is reporting that 1.3% of those hospitalized are children.

State data shows that 73% of adults are partially vaccinated, while 69% of adults are fully vaccinated. 58% of that total population is fully vaccinated.

As far as COVID-19 related deaths, the state has recorded a total of 19,099 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic. That is an additional 29 deaths reported since yesterday.

Local counties metrics:

• Gates 1,182 – 18 deaths
• Bertie 2,616 – 53 deaths
• Camden 1,277 – 9 deaths
• Chowan 2,420 – 44 deaths
• Currituck 3,141 – 27 deaths
• Dare 4,391 – 15 deaths
• Hertford 2,942 – 73 deaths
• Pasquotank 5,671 – 110 deaths
• Perquimans 1,743 – 16 deaths