Gaston County's COVID cases up 14.3%; North Carolina cases surge 50.3%
New coronavirus cases leaped in North Carolina in the week ending Sunday, rising 50.3% as 194,922 cases were reported. The previous week had 129,713 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
North Carolina ranked 14th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 5.8% from the week before, with 5,438,242 cases reported. With 3.15% of the country's population, North Carolina had 3.58% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 39 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Many counties did not report during data during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, disrupting the latest week's statistics. That data is being compared to a week with backlogged cases and deaths from the New Year's holiday weekend. Week-to-week comparisons are skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.
Gaston County reported 3,611 cases and 13 deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 3,158 cases and eight deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 51,897 cases and 672 deaths.
Within North Carolina, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Scotland County with 3,107 cases per 100,000 per week; Hoke County with 3,083; and Wake County with 2,908. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Wake County, with 32,329 cases; Mecklenburg County, with 18,071 cases; and Guilford County, with 7,344. Weekly case counts rose in 94 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Wake, Onslow and Durham counties.
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North Carolina ranked 15th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 78.5% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 74.6%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Wednesday, North Carolina reported administering another 246,322 vaccine doses, including 128,229 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 211,070 vaccine doses, including 111,229 first doses. In all, North Carolina reported it has administered 15,328,073 total doses.
Across North Carolina, cases fell in six counties, with the best declines in Mecklenburg County, with 18,071 cases from 19,199 a week earlier; in Vance County, with 724 cases from 844; and in Yancey County, with 180 cases from 277.
In North Carolina, 284 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 193 people were reported dead.
A total of 2,011,302 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 19,903 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 65,699,947 people have tested positive and 850,605 people have died.
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North Carolina's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Jan. 16.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 5,918
The week before that: 5,000
Four weeks ago: 2,498
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 203,221
The week before that: 185,954
Four weeks ago: 90,739
Hospitals in 41 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 35 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 43 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County COVID cases increased by 3,611 this week
