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New confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Beaufort County numbered eight on Wednesday. There are now 223 active cases in the county, 13 people are hospitalized and two people are currently on ventilators, according to the Wednesday update from Beaufort County Emergency Services and Beaufort County Health Department.

According to the update, 686 of the 921 total positive cases have recovered from the virus; 12 Beaufort County residents have died — seven of those in the space of six days in mid-August.

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

The total number of cases that have been confirmed in the U.S. rose from 6,590,827 Tuesday to 6,620,189 Wednesday; these numbers include 2,495,127 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 29,681,773 confirmed cases. Nationwide, 196,465 deaths have been attributed to the virus, an increase of 1,079 overnight.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina continued to rise from 186,887 Tuesday to 188,024 Wednesday. There have been 3,149 deaths in the state attributed to the virus, an increase of 38 overnight. The state currently has 916 COVID-19 associated hospitalizations and 167,257 people are presumed recovered from the virus in North Carolina.

Eastern North Carolina counties total COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday numbered (does not include number of recovered): Bertie (521), Beaufort (921), Bladen (808), Brunswick (1,500), Carteret (590), Camden (107), Chowan (286), Columbus (1,280), Craven (1,194), Currituck (137); Dare (260), Duplin (2,126), Edgecombe (1,211), Gates (110), Greene (494), Halifax (933), Hertford (649), Hyde (124), Jones (144), Lenoir (913), Martin (405), New Hanover (3,744), Northampton (391), Onslow (1,751), Pamlico (224), Pasquotank (631), Pender (847), Perquimans (164), Pitt (4,380), Sampson (1,720), Tyrrell (111), Washington (197), Wayne (3,062) and Wilson (1,993). Durham (7,842), Mecklenburg (27,125) and Wake (16,530) counties have the most cases in North Carolina.

There had been 14,730 tests completed in Beaufort County as of Wednesday, with 13,698 negatives, 912 positives and 120 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 1,141 tests completed by reporting agencies in Beaufort County last week; 8.5% of those tests were found to be positive. Outbreaks in long-term care facilities were found to be a heavy influence on the positivity rates experience over the past seven days,” the Tuesday update reads.

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