Hospital numbers hit lowest level since August for COVID-19 patients in NC
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in North Carolina fell to 3,231 Thursday, its lowest level in more than a month as the state’s pandemic caseload continues to decline.
The state Department of Health and Human Services reported the total dropping by 169 patients since Wednesday. North Carolina hospitals haven’t seen a COVID-19 population that low since Aug. 21.
Intensive-care treatment has also started to wane, falling from 909 to 860 patients statewide since Wednesday. Patients in North Carolina intensive-care beds have topped 900 for much of September, peaking at 955 on Aug. 29 and Sept. 14.
The updated totals come as North Carolina has seen the delta surge begin to ease. On Wednesday, DHHS reported the seven-day average for new cases had dropped below 6,000 for the first time since Aug. 25.
That average case number fell even lower Thursday, dropping by 173 cases to 5,764 statewide.
COVID-19 patients continue to fill hospitals statewide to the point DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen calls them “strained.”
One trend that especially worries state health officials is the rate of youth COVID-19 infection, which Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday ranks as the highest in the state.
Of those North Carolina residents between 12 and 24, less than half have received a single dose of vaccine.
This week, 25 public and private schools in the Triangle reported COVID-19 clusters, including 12 in Wake County. A cluster is defined as five or more linked cases within a two-week period.
On Thursday, DHHS reported that 61% of the state’s eligible population has been vaccinated — 63% when counting state residents older than 18.
DHHS numbers showed the rate of positive COVID-19 tests at 9.1%, dropping by more than two percentage points from 11.4%. The improved numbers still fall far short of the state’s 5% goal, a level that hasn’t been seen since July.
Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID-19 reached another milestone Thursday, passing 16,000 since the pandemic’s beginning.
North Carolina’s fatalities now total 16,012, rising by 71 since Wednesday. DHHS updates its figures as information is reported, so those deaths could have occurred days or weeks ago.
Earlier this week, Cooper shared an open letter to clergy statewide, urging them to fight misinformation about the virus and boost vaccinations among their flocks.
“Good people are being misinformed,” he wrote. “As a trusted spiritual leader, you can help those who have questions get accurate information.”
