CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With over 6,600 new COVID cases on Friday, North Carolina has averaged 5,182 new cases per day over the past week, the highest rate since early February when the pandemic was just coming down from its winter peak.
At the beginning of July, the seven-day average was below 300.
As of Friday, 2,483 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, the 34th consecutive day that number has increased. A quarter of those patients, 635, are being treated in intensive care units. A week ago there were 424 adult COVID patients statewide in ICU, a number that has since grown by nearly 50%.
About a month ago, there were fewer people overall in North Carolina hospitalized with COVID-19 than there are in intensive care today.
Among the tests reported Wednesday, the latest data available, 11.6% returned positive. The rate has been over 10% for 12 straight days. The state’s target is 5% or less, which health officials say is one of the indicators that the spread of the virus is slowing.
The surge in cases and hospitalizations, state officials say, is due to the delta variant, a highly contagious mutation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that cause COVID-19.
But cases are almost entirely among those people who have not been vaccinated, officials say.
Last month the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said 94% of new cases are in those not vaccinated.
Among North Carolina’s total population, 48% are fully vaccinated, as of Friday. For those eligible for the shot, ages 12 and up, 56% are fully vaccinated.
DHHS reported 20 deaths due to the virus on Friday, but didn’t specify the dates of those deaths.
Since March 2020, when the pandemic began, 13,826 North Carolinians have died due to COVID-19.
