BY SHARON MCBRAYER Staff Writer Burke County added another 44 cases of COVID-19 on Friday, and the state reported its highest one-day number of cases at more than 8,000. The Burke County Health Department reported 5,386 cases of the virus, up from 5,342 cases on Thursday. The Burke County COVID-19 dashboard, which lags behind the health departmentâs daily briefing, showed 1,159 active cases of the virus in the county on Friday. It also showed 23 Burke County residents currently hospitalized because of COVID-19. The county has previously reported 75 deaths due to the virus. Close contact remains the primary way the virus is being spread in the county, accounting for 60% of the cases, the dashboard shows.