NC COVID-19 hospitalizations rise by over 80 after falling for six straight days
North Carolina COVID-19 hospitalizations increased by 81 on Tuesday, marking the first time in a week that the number failed to decrease.
The state now has 3,368 people in the hospital because of the virus, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Overall, that number has steadily decreased from the pandemic high of 3,990 reported on Jan. 14. A month ago, hospitalizations were at 3,059.
DHHS reported 3,978 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the lowest daily increase since Dec. 29.
Over the last week, an average of 6,132 new cases have been reported each day. Just over a week ago, that average was over 7,000.
Among the tests reported on Sunday, the latest day with data available, 13.3% returned positive. It’s the first time since Jan. 11 that the rate has been over 13%.
That’s almost triple the 5% or lower that state health officials want.
DHHS reported an additional 56 deaths on Tuesday. Over the last week, over 90 deaths have been reported per day.
The state reported over 100 deaths each day from Thursday to Sunday.
As of Tuesday, 8,776 North Carolinians have died due to the virus.
Case and hospitalization data reported by DHHS are preliminary and subject to change upon further investigation.
ICU and hospital capacity
Available intensive care unit beds statewide decreased to 407 on Tuesday, down from the 425 DHHS reported on Monday.
Over the past few weeks, available ICU beds have increased from the pandemic low of 328 reported on Jan. 8.
Available inpatient beds decreased by over 300 with 5,026 reported on Tuesday. On Monday, 5,353 were reported as available.
But it’s up from the 4,238 reported on Jan. 8, the lowest total in January.
Currently, 83% of ICU beds and 76% of inpatient beds are in use statewide.
DHHS updates vaccination numbers
From Dec. 14 to Monday, 728,148 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in North Carolina, according to DHHS.
Of those, 630,774 were first doses and 97,374 were second doses.
Two doses are required, given about four weeks apart, for the vaccines to be fully effective.
As of Monday, the federal government has allocated 1,182,175 doses to North Carolina. Of those, 1,055,000 have arrived in the state.
Ninety-five percent of the first doses and 25% of second does have been administered.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 1:17 PM.