CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Health officials reported over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, bringing the statewide coronavirus cases to over 93,000.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, is scheduled to hold a press briefing at 2 p.m. Thursday to update the state's response to rising cases. Cohen's briefing will be the first since Gov. Roy Cooper announced his guidelines for reopening schools.
Cooper will allow schools to reopen with a mix of in-person learning and virtual classes or full remote learning. Many districts are still finalizing their plans, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. On Wednesday, the CMS Board of Education held an emergency meeting to vote on its reopening plan, settling on "Plan B-Plus," which has two weeks of in-person instruction on rotating schedules before transitioning to full remote learning by the third week of school on August 31.
According to DHHS data, North Carolina's average number of new COVID-19 cases per day is up to about 1,800 from around 1,600 a week ago. Hospitalizations are slightly down from Wednesday's record high of 1,142, and the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests remains stable at 9%. So far, 1,588 people have died in North Carolina from coronavirus, according to DHHS.
