May 19. UPDATE 3pm. As rate of the increase in new cases of COVID-19 levels off along with the number of North Carolinians who have died, Gov. Roy Cooper said he hopes to end Phase One of reopening this Friday as planned.
Phase Two of his three-phase reopening plan is set to begin at 5 pm Friday; North Carolina has been in Phase One since May 8. Phase Two will allow North Carolina restaurants, hair salons, barber shops and gyms to open at reduced capacity.
By the numbers/% change in one week (UPDATED 3 PM)
Total hospitalized: 585/23%
Total COVID cases:19,700/28%
Total COVID deaths: 691/19.7%
Total COVID tests: 265,008/31%
More testing means more cases will be detected. Meanwhile, the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 illness is well above 11,637, the number that was reported yesterday by NCDHHS.
New data is posted every day around 11 am by NCDHHS. Cornelius Today grabbed the data at 11 am, but it was subsequently taken down. We will update this story when NCDHHS refreshes their data. At noon, it was once again showing Monday’s report.