COVID-19 hospitalizations in North Carolina under 3,000 for first time in weeks
North Carolina reported that 2,943 are hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide Thursday, the first time since Aug. 18 that hospitalizations are under 3,000.
Of those, 810 are being treated in intensive care units, about 28%. It’s lowest number of COVID patients in ICUs since Aug. 22. They peaked at 955 on Aug. 29 and Sept. 14.
With 4,765 reported Thursday, new cases are on the decline also as the per day average in the last week is just over 4,600. It was over 6,900 on Sept. 1, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services data show.
Cases and hospitalizations spiked throughout August and early September due to the delta variant, 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.
The most recent CDC data show that over 97% of sequenced virus in North Carolina is delta.
But even as North Carolina starts to come down from the delta surge, deaths continue to stack up.
With 1,551 deaths reported due to COVID-19 in September, it’s now the third deadliest month of the pandemic, behind only December and January.
In August, nearly 1,200 people died due to the virus. In all of June and July combined, 381 people died.
The vaccine remains the best protection against severe COVID-19.
A DHHS study from late August found that those unvaccinated are more than four times as likely to contract COVID and 15 times more likely to die due to the disease, The News & Observer reported.
As of Thursday, 53% of all North Carolinians and 62% of those eligible for the shot, ages 12 and up, are fully vaccinated. Nationally those rates are 56% and 65% respectively.
Among the tests reported Tuesday, the latest available data, 7.7% returned positive. Over the week prior to Tuesday, 8.6% returned positive per day.
State health officials have said they want that rate at 5% or lower. On Sept. 1, it was over 12%.
As of Thursday, 691,517 Americans, including 16,524 North Carolinians, have died due to COVID-19.
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 30, 2021 at 2:02 PM.