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Beaufort County had a total 444 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, an increase of seven overnight. There are currently 149 active cases in the county and 10 people are hospitalized, according to the Tuesday update from Beaufort County Emergency Services and Beaufort County Health Department.

Beaufort County’s number of total cases has increased dramatically over the last month, with 340 new positive cases since Fourth of July weekend. According to the update, 289 of those positive cases have recovered from the virus. As of Tuesday, there have been six COVID-19-related deaths in the county, according to the update.

Contact tracing of the known, confirmed cases has concluded:

• 191 cases have been attributed to direct contact with another known positive case;
• two cases were related to travel to a known outbreak area;
• 75 cases are attributed to community spread;
• 175 cases are still under investigation.

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

The total number of cases that have been confirmed in the U.S. rose from 5,071,179 Monday to 5,130,732 Tuesday; these numbers include 1,670,755 people in the U.S. presumed recovered from COVID-19. The U.S. has the highest total number of cases worldwide; worldwide, there have been 20,177,521 confirmed cases. Nationwide, 164,603 deaths have been attributed to the virus, an increase of 1,351 overnight.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina continued to rise from 137,410 Monday to 138,743 Tuesday. There have been 2,247 deaths in the state attributed to the virus, an increase of 50 overnight. The state currently has 1,122 COVID-19 associated hospitalizations and 105,093 people are presumed recovered from the virus in North Carolina.

“Sixty-four of our total positives were asymptomatic at the time of their test,” the update reads.

Eastern North Carolina counties total COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday numbered (does not include number of recovered): Bertie (280), Beaufort (444), Bladen (626), Brunswick (1,260), Carteret (376), Camden (73), Chowan (158), Columbus (918), Craven (753), Currituck (73); Dare (210), Duplin (2,016), Edgecombe (664), Gates (45), Greene (332), Halifax (715), Hertford (353), Hyde (47), Jones (99), Lenoir (599), Martin (268), New Hanover (2,696), Northampton (352), Onslow (1,108), Pamlico (73), Pasquotank (423), Pender (666), Perquimans (88), Pitt (2,054), Sampson (1,516), Tyrrell (99), Washington (135), Wayne (2,435) and Wilson (1,514). Durham (6,221), Mecklenburg (22,462) and Wake (12,148) counties have the most cases in North Carolina.

There had been 5,221 tests completed in Beaufort County as of Tuesday, with 4,697 negatives, 433 positives and 91 pending. These are cumulative numbers and include tests performed at the health department and reporting private medical facilities through the county. Nine of Beaufort County’s cases were tested in other counties but are Beaufort County residents.

“There were approximately 1,000 tests completed in Beaufort County last week,” the update says.

The update reminded county residents to “practice the Three W’s:” wear face coverings, wait six feet apart and wash your hands often.