RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina was reporting 2,985 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and the percent of positive tests has climbed to 14% -- the highest that number has been since Jan. 10, at the height of the pandemic.
North Carolina also experienced the largest single-day jump in hospital ICU admissions since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, 2,179 people were hospitalized across the state with COVID-19, higher than the count of 2,006 the day before.
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Hospitalizations in North Carolina have doubled in the past two weeks -- they had not been above 2,000 since February. Health officials said 272 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals in the past 24 hours.
- Currently, there are 557 adult ICU COVID-19 patients across the state.
- Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations among people ages 20-49 are at an all-time high.
- ICU admissions related to COVID-19 jumped to 557 yesterday from 502 the day prior.
- From Aug. 3 through Aug. 9, there were 547 people ages 20-49 admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19.
“These high levels of COVID-related admissions jeopardize the ability of our hospitals to provide needed care in our communities,” said Kody H. Kinsley, chief deputy secretary for Health at NCDHHS. “The vast majority of our COVID-19 hospitalizations are in unvaccinated people.
Dr. Eric Eskioglu, Novant Health’s chief medical and scientific officer, said the health system is on track to match or exceed the surge of COVID-19 cases they saw in their hospitals in January.
“Unfortunately, we have more than a 1,000% increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions today compared to just three weeks ago,” he said. “The average age of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is also 44, down from 61 in January. More than 90% of patients hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated and they are sicker than the patients we saw during earlier surges. Entire families are presenting in our emergency rooms for COVID testing. This surge is still preventable. I urge and plead with everyone to get vaccinated now.”
About 58% of North Carolina’s adult population is fully vaccinated.
In all but two of North Carolina’s 100 counties, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear masks in indoor public settings, even if they’re already vaccinated, due to substantial or high transmission rates.
CDC COVID-19 Transmission Levels by U.S. County:
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