Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina continued to rise from 3,270 Tuesday to 3,472 Wednesday. There have been 63 deaths in the state attributed to the virus and 386 hospitalizations. According to Beaufort County Health Department Director Jim Madson, four of those hospitalizations have been Beaufort County COVID-19 cases; three of those cases remain hospitalized and the fourth was released.

In Beaufort County, there were 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Six of the 11 confirmed cases have recovered from COVID-19. Five cases remain active, according to the Wednesday update from Beaufort County’s Office of Emergency Services.

The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. rose from 386,817 Tuesday to 423,135 Wednesday; these numbers include the 22,966 people in the U.S. known to have recovered from COVID-19. The U.S. has the greatest number of cases worldwide, and there are likely many more cases as those exhibiting symptoms are now being encouraged to stay home rather than get tested. Nationwide, 14,390 deaths have been attributed to the virus, an increase of 2,105 overnight. Five percent of all active cases are considered serious, requiring hospitalization, down from 19% in February; 11% of all U.S. cases have been considered serious, requiring hospitalization.

North Carolina has confirmed cases in 93 counties.

Of Beaufort County’s total of 11 cases, contact tracing of these known, confirmed cases has concluded:

• one case has been contributed to direct contact with a known patient from another county;
• two cases were related to travel to a known outbreak area;
• seven cases are attributed to community spread;
• one is still under investigation.

All active cases are self-isolating, the update reads.

Eastern North Carolina counties with current cases include: Bertie (10), Beaufort (11), Bladen (1), Brunswick (26), Carteret (25), Camden (1), Chowan (1), Columbus (14), Craven (19), Currituck (3); Dare (10), Duplin (8), Edgecombe (12), Gates (3), Greene (10), Halifax (14), Hertford (5), Lenoir (11), Martin (4), New Hanover (52), Northampton (54), Onslow (24), Pamlico (3), Pasquotank (10), Pender (2), Perquimans (2), Pitt (51), Sampson (5), Washington (8), Wayne (34) and Wilson (38). Durham (236), Mecklenburg (830) and Wake (365) counties have the most cases in North Carolina.

Cases of COVID-19 are now projected to peak on April 13. However, Madson said the peak period for the virus could last several weeks.

The Beaufort County Health Department is now recommending, as is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that the general public use cloth facemasks/coverings while out in public as an additional method of preventing the spread of COVID-19. They do not recommend the public use surgical masks or N95 masks, as these should be reserved for medical providers in medical settings.

For more on facemask recommendations, see the Friday issue of the Washington Daily News.