COVID-19 patients in ICUs reaches pandemic high in NC amid ongoing delta surge
North Carolina reported that 883 adults with COVID-19 statewide are being treated in intensive care units as of Thursday, the highest number since the pandemic began.
The next highest was in mid-January at 880, when the cases peaked during the winter surge.
ICU patients have more than doubled in August alone. Since the beginning of July, they’ve increased more than nine-fold.
People in intensive care make up about a quarter of the 3,552 total hospitalizations as of Thursday. Hospitalizations peaked at 3,990 in mid-January.
Hospitalizations have nearly tripled in August, data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services shows.
Wake County health providers announced Wednesday that the rapid surge in patients is filling county hospitals and emergency departments, The News & Observer reported.
DHHS reported over 8,600 new COVID cases Thursday, the highest since Jan. 15.
Over the last week, the state has reported over 6,100 new cases per day. That rate has more than doubled in August. Since the beginning of July, it’s increased by more than 20 times.
The rapid increase of ICU patients, hospitalizations and cases is due to the delta variant, a mutation of the coronavirus that’s more than three times as contagious as the original strain.
Nearly 94% of sequenced virus in North Carolina is delta, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over 90% of people hospitalized and almost all ICU patients with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, DHHS reported earlier this month.
As of Thursday, 49% of all North Carolinians and 57% of those eligible for the shot, ages 12 and up, are fully vaccinated.
Among those age 65 and up, 85% are fully vaccinated.
The average age of hospitalization is 44, down from the average of 61 in January, when vaccines were not yet widely available.
DHHS reported 60 deaths on Thursday, but it didn’t specify the dates of those deaths. DHHS updates its totals for each date as information becomes available, so the 60 deaths could have happened days or weeks ago.
That said, at the beginning of July the state was reporting just a handful of deaths each day. It has found that just two deaths occurred on July 3, 4 and 5, and just one death occurred on June 26, though those numbers may change. In August, according to data the state received as of Thursday, more than 20 people have died on at least 15 days. The deadliest day in August, with 39 deaths reported so far, was Aug. 17.
The deadliest day of the pandemic thus far was Jan. 4, when 128 people died in North Carolina.
Deaths from the coronavirus in North Carolina have started to trend younger than from earlier in the pandemic, The N&O reported last week.
As of Wednesday, 14,272 North Carolinians have died due to COVID-19.
Among the tests reported Tuesday, the latest available data, 13% returned positive. Over the last week of available data, an average of 12.4% have returned positive per day.
State health officials have said they want that rate at 5% or below.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 1:45 PM.