North Carolina reports fewer than 1,000 COVID-19 positives

Published 3:15 pm Tuesday, May 4, 2021

SALISBURY — For the first time in about a month, North Carolina on Tuesday saw fewer than 1,000 new COVID-19 positives.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 981 new positives, including 20 new cases in Rowan County.

April 6 is the last time the statewide number dipped below 1,000. Daily positives reported have otherwise fluctuated while also remaining significantly below a peak in January.

State data show a total of 16,681 COVID-19 positives in Rowan County since the start of the pandemic and 402 cases in the previous 14 days. The two-week number is more than most of the state when adjusted for population and in the same neighborhood as some neighboring counties.

The following are numbers for neighboring counties in the previous two weeks:

• Rowan: 283 positives per 10,000 residents

• Cabarrus: 294 positives per 10,000 residents

• Davidson: 242 positives per 10,000 residents

• Davie: 205 positives per 10,000 residents

• Iredell: 252 positives per 100,000 residents

• Stanly: 260 cases per 10,000 residents

The number of Rowan County residents vaccinated with at least one dose increased by just 95 on Tuesday, making the total number of people vaccinated in the county at least 43,321. The number of local residents considered fully vaccinated increased by a larger number — 155.

In other COVID-19 data:

• COVID-19 deaths in the county remain at 300. There have been 12,700 COVID-19 deaths across North Carolina since the start of the pandemic.

• The Department of Health and Human Services reports the percentage of emergency department visits across North Carolina for COVID-like illnesses is roughly equal to the same time in 2020 — when the coronavirus first started appearing in the state.

• COVID-19 hospitalizations in Rowan County’s region — the 18-county area known as the Triad Health Care Preparedness Coalition — were 222 on Tuesday, an increase of three from the day earlier.

• Statewide, there have been 975,300 total COVID-19 positives

• 39.4% of North Carolinians have received at least one dose of a vaccination and 33% are fully vaccinated.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 44.4% of Americans have received at least one dose and 31.8% are fully vaccinated.