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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina continued to rise from 4,880 Monday to 5,112 on Tuesday. There have been 112 deaths in the state attributed to the virus and currently 418 hospitalizations. According to Beaufort County Health Department Director Jim Madson, four of those hospitalizations have been Beaufort County COVID-19 cases; two of those cases are currently hospitalized.

In Beaufort County, there were 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Eight of the 14 confirmed cases have recovered from COVID-19. Six cases remain active, according to the Tuesday update from Beaufort County’s Office of Emergency Services.

The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. rose from 572,587 on Monday to 598,670 Tuesday; these numbers include the 44,364 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, 25,239 deaths have been attributed to the virus, an increase of 2,161 overnight.

North Carolina has confirmed cases in 93 counties.

Of Beaufort County’s total of 14 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;
• 10 cases are attributed to community spread;
• one case is still under investigation.

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

Eastern North Carolina counties with current cases include: Bertie (15), Beaufort (14), Bladen (2), Brunswick (35), Carteret (22), Camden (1), Chowan (4), Columbus (37), Craven (29), Currituck (3); Dare (15), Duplin (19), Edgecombe (31), Gates (4), Greene (13), Halifax (2), Hertford (4), Jones (7), Lenoir (15), Martin (7), New Hanover (61), Northampton (65), Onslow (34), Pamlico (6), Pasquotank (15), Pender (5), Perquimans (8), Pitt (69), Sampson (13), Tyrrell (2), Washington (18), Wayne (78) and Wilson (74). Durham (324), Mecklenburg (993) and Wake (501) counties have the most cases in North Carolina.

There have been 156 tests completed in Beaufort County as of Tuesday, with 138 negatives, 12 positives and six pending. These are cumulative numbers and include tests performed at the health department and reporting private medical facilities through the county. Two of Beaufort County’s positive cases were tested in other counties.

“The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations continues to update projections for COVID-19. Their data includes estimates of needs (i.e. hospital beds, ICU beds, ventilators) as well as peak cases for U.S. and state by state,” the update reads. “Today’s update continues the trend of a reduction in hospitalizations and death rates for North Carolina. N.C. is currently projected to peak on April 17. You can view this information by using the following link: covid19.healthdata.org/projections (This may not work well in Internet Explorer). Use the drop down arrow next to ‘United States of America’ to view this data at a state level.”