CARTERET COUNTY â Health officials reported 45 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Carteret County Friday, though the number of active cases dropped slightly from Thursday down to 390. The new cases bring Carteret Countyâs overall total to 2,569 documented cases since March. Of those, the county reports 2,154 people have recovered and 24 have died. The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Carteret Health Care in Morehead City remained at 15 for the second day after hitting a record high of 16 earlier in the week. Meanwhile, the Carteret County public school system has reported eight additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases connected to schools to 125 as of Friday afternoon. The newest cases were reported Wednesday and Thursday at White Oak Elementary School, three cases; West Carteret High School, two; Croatan High School, one; Newport Elementary School, one; and Morehead City Middle School, one.