325 DEATHS REPORTED

North Carolina has at least 8,994 reported cases of the coronavirus as of Monay morning, and 325 people have died, according to state and county health departments.

At least 451 North Carolinians were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Sunday, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s slightly down from the 456 hospitalized Saturday.

Ninety-four of the state’s 100 counties have reported at least one case of the virus and 60 have reported at least one death.

Mecklenburg has the most, with 1,482 cases and 41 deaths. In the Triangle, Wake County has 663 cases and 13 deaths and Durham County has 555 cases and 15 deaths.

CHURCH THREATENED

Rumors about a coronavirus outbreak at a Western North Carolina church have prompted people to threaten the congregation on social media, The Charlotte Observer reported.

Word of Faith Fellowship says it is adhering to health recommendations and is live streaming its services. The congregation in a statement didn’t say if any of its members had become infected with the disease.

A lawyer says the rural church has brought the online threats to authorities’ attention.

The congregation is in Rutherford County, which has the ninth highest rate of coronavirus cases in the state.

During last decade’s recession, some owners of the church were accused of fraud, The Charlotte Observer reported. Members live in a gated community and practice a form of prayer intended to remove a demon from someone’s body.

RESIDENTS LEAVING HOME MORE

North Carolinians have left their homes more and traveled farther in recent days than they have in previous weeks, according to a study from the University of Maryland.

Between April 17 and April 23, the state scored a 45 out of 100 on the study’s social distancing index. A score of 100 means all residents are staying home and no visitors are coming, while a 0 means there is no social distancing.

Researchers say the study uses “privacy-protected data from mobile devices, government agencies, health care systems, and other sources” to compile the numbers, which are based on the percentage of residents staying home and reductions in trips.

CASES BY ZIP CODE

Durham County has joined others in the state that allow residents to see how many people in their ZIP code have tested positive for COVID-19.

The state and many counties, include Wake, do not release such data. But other counties, like Mecklenburg and Union, do.

In Durham County, the ZIP code 27705 had the most cases. The area includes two of the county’s three nursing home outbreaks.