Nearly 1 in 5 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in NC are on a ventilator
Nearly 1 in 5 North Carolinians hospitalized with COVID-19 are on a ventilator as of Tuesday, state data show.
Among the 3,464 COVID-19 hospital patients statewide as of Tuesday, 19% are being treated on ventilators, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
The rate has been increasing from 11% since mid-July, when the delta variant first started to surge. Delta is a mutation of the coronavirus that’s more than twice as contagious as the original strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearly 98% of sequenced virus in North Carolina is delta, the latest CDC data show.
About 26%, or 908 total, of all COVID patients statewide are being treated in intensive care units.
That’s down from a pandemic peak of 955 reported in late August, but a dramatic increase over the last two months. In mid-July there were 122 ICU patients statewide with COVID-19.
Among all patients hospitalized currently, 1.3% are younger than 18. That rate peaked at 2.1% on July 18.
The COVID-19 vaccines are best protection against severe disease, state data show.
A DHHS analysis from late August concluded that those unvaccinated are more than four times as likely to catch COVID-19 and 15 times more likely to die due to the disease, The News & Observer reported.
As of Tuesday, 52% of all North Carolinians and 61% of those eligible, ages 12 and up, are fully vaccinated. Nationally those rates are 54% and 64% respectively.
Since delta hit in July, deaths have spiked in North Carolina, almost all of them people who had not been vaccinated.
So far in September, 882 people have died due to COVID-19. In August, 1,156 died, according to the most recent reporting.
In June and July combined, 378 people died due to the virus.
As of Tuesday, 672,738 Americans, including 15,811 North Carolinians have died due to the COVID-19.
Tuesday’s new case count
DHHS reported 4,381 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, but testing numbers were low, as they typically are at the beginning of the week. New case numbers usually trend higher later in the week.
But new cases have started to plateau as weekly numbers have decreased for two consecutive weeks, The N&O reported Monday.
Among the tests reported Sunday, the latest data available, 11% returned positive. In the week prior to Sunday, 9.9% of tests returned positive per day.
State health officials have said they want that rate at 5% or lower. The weekly rate has decreased from 12.1% reported on Sept. 1.
COVID-19 metrics reported by DHHS each day are preliminary and subject to change as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 1:28 PM.