North Carolina reports a new record for COVID-19 case count

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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a grim reminder to people Saturday. He took to Twitter to report the state hit yet another milestone fighting the Coronavirus pandemic.

“COVID-19 is surging across the country and today in North Carolina we have our highest daily case count at 3,885 new cases,” Cooper said. “We can slow the spread if we do what we know works — wear a mask and keep social distance.”

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported the state’s highest one day number of COVID-19 cases for the second time in a week. They noted a record high on Wednesday with 3,119 cases, along with an increase in hospitalizations at 1,246 and the percent of tests that were positive climbing to 7.9 percent. The new total shattered that figure by 766 cases.

“This is not the milestone we want to be hitting, particularly as we head into holidays where people want to come together. I am asking North Carolinians to do what they do best, look out for each other. Wear a mask. Wait six feet apart. Wash your hands often. We’ve had more time to learn about this devastating virus and study after study shows that these three simple actions can help keep our family, friends and neighbors from getting sick,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D.

COVID-19 is highly contagious, and more than half of North Carolinians are at high risk for serious illness. Studies are also finding that some people, including those who had a mild illness, experience symptoms for weeks or months following infection.

The rate of daily COVID-19 cases has spiked drastically in the past 14 days. Going from 74,236 on Nov. 1 to 181,194 on Nov. 14, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 244,000 people have died from the Coronavirus in the U.S. since March 2– 8,850 of those were from the Carolinas.