Could September become NC’s deadliest month of the pandemic since February?
Just two weeks into September, 522 people in North Carolina have died from COVID-19, putting the month on pace to surpass August as the deadliest of the pandemic since February.
In August, 1,107 people died due to the virus, data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services show. In February, 1,266 people died, but that was before vaccines became widely available.
September is on pace for nearly 1,120 deaths and could see more, as deaths per day have risen over the last month and a half.
In the first week of August, COVID-19 deaths averaged 17 per day in North Carolina. That tripled to 52 deaths per day during the first week of September.
The 522 deaths so far in September is 39% more than in all of June and July combined, when 376 died.
Deaths from month-to-month were dropping earlier this year as the winter peak subsided and weekly vaccination rates rose.
But the delta variant, a mutation more than twice as contagious as the original strain of the virus, hit as vaccination rates started to plummet over the summer months.
The number of doses administered statewide, over 2 million in April, dropped to just under 501,000 in June.
In a DHHS report from late August, the state concluded that unvaccinated people are more than four times likely to catch COVID-19 and 15 times more likely to die due to the disease compared to those with their shots, The News & Observer reported.
As of Wednesday, 60% of those 12 and up in North Carolina are fully vaccinated, just below the 63% national percentage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Overall, August was the fifth deadliest month of the entire pandemic. January, with 3,019 COVID-19 deaths, was the deadliest.
The other months deadlier than August were November, December and February, as the pandemic reached a peak in hospitalizations and new cases over the winter months.
As of Wednesday, 660,380 Americans, including 15,405 North Carolinians, have died due to COVID-19.
Deaths reported from day-to-day are preliminary. The number may increase over a previous time period as more information becomes available.
Other metrics plateau, but ICU patients stay high
DHHS reported 3,630 people hospitalized statewide due to COVID-19 on Wednesday. That’s down from the 3,802 at the beginning of the month.
The state reported 7,277 new cases Wednesday. Over the last week, DHHS has reported 6,871 new cases per day.
That rate has stayed roughly same over the last two weeks.
But since early July when delta first started to surge, metrics have increased rapidly.
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 on July 1 were at 396 and over the first week in July, DHHS reported just 368 cases per day.
The number of patients requiring intensive care remains high. As of Wednesday, 946 people with COVID-19 are in ICUs statewide.
The state first reached 900 ICU patients with COVID on Aug. 27, and it’s remained above that mark since.
ICU patients peaked at 955 on Aug. 29 and Tuesday.
Among the tests reported Monday, the latest available data, 11.9% were positive. Officials want that number at 5% or lower, a standard not met since July 17.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 2:43 PM.