Coronavirus: North Carolina's death toll up 20% overnight

ASHEVILLE - North Carolina's official tally of deaths resulting from COVID-19 complications jumped 20% April 21 for a total of 213 deaths statewide. 

It's important to note the 34 deaths added to the count by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services did not necessarily occur in the 24 hours between daily updates. 

More:Buncombe's first coronavirus victim: loving family man, lifelong worker

This update is by far the state's largest one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths since the first North Carolina death was reported March 25. The second-largest jump occurred April 14, when 22 additional deaths were added to the tally. 

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Hospitalizations are back up April 21 after a brief decline. According to NCDHHS, 465 patients were hospitalized with lab-confirmed COVID-19 across the state on April 19, 373 on April 20 and 427 on April 21. 

New lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 flagged slightly, with only a 3% day-over-day increase — but public health officials caution that's not necessarily reason to celebrate since testing limitations mean many cases go unconfirmed. 

Elizabeth Anne Brown is the trending news reporter for the Citizen Times. Reach her at eabrown@citizentimes.com, or follow her on Twitter @eabrown18.

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