North Carolina hits 1,000 reported coronavirus-related deaths

North Carolina reached a grim landmark Thursday in its fight with coronavirus: 1,000 deaths.

It took the state three months for fatalities from COVID-19 to reach quadruple digits. Its first reported case appeared on March 3 in Wake County and the first patient death from the disease came on March 24, outside Charlotte in Cabarrus County.

That patient, like many to follow, was elderly with unrelated health problems. While 63% of coronavirus-related deaths in the state have been patients 75 and older, the virus has claimed younger victims, too. Statewide, 17% of the fatalities were patients younger than 65; 5% of them younger than 50, including a 43-year-old middle school resource officer in Biscoe.

Also this week, the first child in the state died from COVID-19: Aurea Soto Morales, an elementary school student in Durham.

The News & Observer is keeping its own tally of coronavirus cases and deaths based on data collected from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and county health departments across the state. As of Thursday afternoon, that number stood at 1,006. The NC DHHS numbers are typically lower than the N&O’s because the department only reports figures once a day. NC DHHS reported 960 deaths in the state as of Thursday afternoon.

The coronavirus’ impact has been greatest in North Carolina’s most populous county, Mecklenburg, where 97 people had died as of Wednesday afternoon. Wake County followed with 40 deaths, Durham with 49 and Orange with another 40.

As testing increased statewide and the caseload passed 30,000 people since the virus first struck, space remained in North Carolina’s hospital beds if the pandemic worsens. With 89 percent of hospitals reporting statewide, inpatient beds were at 76 percent capacity; intensive-care beds, 85 percent, according to the state’s DHHS.

This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 12:26 PM with the headline "North Carolina hits 1,000 reported coronavirus-related deaths."