Over 3,300 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in NC as delta surges among unvaccinated
North Carolina reported Tuesday that 3,342 people in the state are hospitalized with COVID-19. Monday was the first day since Jan. 27 that the state reported more than 3,300.
Since the beginning of August, hospitalizations have increased by over 250% statewide, data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services shows.
Among those hospitalized, 830 are being treated in intensive care units, about one-fourth of all hospitalizations. That number has increased by more than 450 since the start of the month.
DHHS reported 4,623 new COVID cases Monday. That’s down from the 5,184 reported Monday, but new cases are generally lower earlier in the week, as fewer people tend to get tested on the weekends.
Over the last week, the state has reported an average of 5,779 new cases per day. That rate has doubled since the first of this month and has increased nearly 20 times from July 1.
The rapid increase is due to the delta variant, a mutation of the coronavirus that’s more than three times as contagious as the original strain. More than 86% of sequenced virus in North Carolina is delta, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over 90% of those hospitalized are among those unvaccinated, DHHS reported earlier this month.
As of Tuesday, 49% of all North Carolinians and 57% of those eligible, ages 12 and up, are fully vaccinated.
Among those age 65 and up, 85% are fully vaccinated.
The average age of those hospitalized is 44, down from the average of 61 in January, before vaccines were widely available.
Among tests reported Sunday, the latest available data, 14.7% returned positive. Over the last week of available data, an average of 12.3% of tests have been reported positive per day.
Health officials have said they want that rate at 5% or lower.
DHHS reported 32 additional deaths due to the virus on Tuesday, but it didn’t specify the dates of those deaths. DHHS updates its totals for each date as information becomes available, so the 32 deaths could have happened days or weeks ago.
Deaths from the coronavirus in North Carolina have started to trend younger than from earlier in the pandemic, The News & Observer reported last week.
As of Tuesday, 14,152 North Carolinians have died due to COVID-19.
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 1:23 PM.