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For a fourth day in a row, North Carolina reported 100 or more COVID-19 cases Sunday. The same day Johns Hopkins University said that 40% of Americans live in areas running out of ICU space. The thirteenth day with N.C. hitting the century mark in deaths since the pandemic started, and ten of those coming in 2021 alone.
The state’s daily percent positive test rate fell nearly a half-point to 10.5%, and a reported 3,303 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19; down 113 from Saturday’s total. Overall, North Carolina reported 6,096 new cases of the virus, bringing the total to nearly 719,000 in the Tar Heel State since March.
According to Johns Hopkins University, a little over 25 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the United States as of Sunday morning, along with over 420,000 deaths.
NCDHHS reported the first known case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 from the United Kingdom in a North Carolina resident Saturday morning. The highly-contagious variant was first detected in the U.K. in December, but was not detected in the Carolinas thus far.
The strain was found in a sample from an adult in Mecklenburg County. A total of 196 cases of B.1.1.7 had been reported in 22 states as of Jan. 24. Officials say the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be effective against the new variant.
