Gaston County's COVID cases up 6%; North Carolina cases up 3.6%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
Representatives of all Gaston healthcare workers battling the COVID pandemic accepted the Chamber's 2021 Public Service Award.
Representatives of all Gaston healthcare workers battling the COVID pandemic accepted the Chamber's 2021 Public Service Award.

New coronavirus cases increased 3.6% in North Carolina in the week ending Sunday as the state added 26,388 cases. The previous week had 25,462 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

North Carolina ranked 21st 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 29% from the week before, with 947,862 cases reported. With 3.15% of the country's population, North Carolina had 2.78% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 42 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

The Fourth of July holiday disrupted who got tested, when people got tested and when both test results and deaths were reported. This may significantly skew week-to-week comparisons.

Gaston County reported 587 cases and five deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 554 cases and two deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 70,076 cases and 871 deaths.

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Within North Carolina, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Graham County with 557 cases per 100,000 per week; Pamlico County with 471; and Surry County with 436. 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 Mecklenburg County, with 3,112 cases; Wake County, with 2,994 cases; and Guilford County, with 1,039. Weekly case counts rose in 63 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Surry, Cumberland and Cabarrus counties.

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>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

​ Across North Carolina, cases fell in 36 counties, with the best declines in Wake County, with 2,994 cases from 3,442 a week earlier; in Buncombe County, with 527 cases from 617; and in Iredell County, with 362 cases from 419. ​

In North Carolina, ​ 138 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 48 people were reported dead.

A total of 2,919,068 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 25,395 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 89,542,107 people have tested positive and 1,023,799 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

North Carolina's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, July 17. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 2,073

  • The week before that: 1,800

  • Four weeks ago: 1,638

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 73,328

  • The week before that: 67,692

  • Four weeks ago: 57,602

Hospitals in 36 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 27 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 40 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 reported 587 additional COVID-19 cases this week