NC COVID-19 patients in ICUs at more than 900 for nearly 2 consecutive weeks

North Carolina reported 927 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units statewide Tuesday, the 12th consecutive day that over 900 people in state have required an ICU.

DHHS reported nearly 15,000 cases over the weekend, though some of those reported were from a previous time period as some test results were not previously received due to a technical issue with a national reporting database.

The number of cases reported Tuesday does not indicate the level of transmission over the long Labor Day weekend as testing numbers were low. The virus also takes anywhere from two to 14 days to show symptoms.

Aug. 27 was the first day over the entire pandemic in North Carolina that more than 900 people were in an ICU.

The state has about 300 ICU beds still available, data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services show.

ICU patients make up about a quarter of the 3,779 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide as of Tuesday.

Hospitalizations due to the virus peaked at 3,990 in mid-January.

Among the tests that were reported, data is available for only Saturday and Sunday. On those days, 11.5% and 13.7% came back positive respectively.

Over the last week of available data, an average of 11.8% of tests were positive per day. State officials have said they want that rate at 5% or lower. It’s one of the many indicators that the state uses to gauge COVID-19 spread.

In early July, total COVID-19 hospitalizations and daily cases reported were both fewer than 400.

The rapid rise in metrics is due to the delta variant, a mutation of the coronavirus that’s more than three times as contagious as the original strain. More than 97% of sequenced virus in recent weeks in North Carolina is delta, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Deaths have risen too, as August was the deadliest month of the pandemic since February, before vaccines were widely available, The News & Observer previously reported.

According to a DHHS report in late August, nearly 85% of recent deaths are among unvaccinated people.

And a vast majority of deaths among those vaccinated were age 65 or older, a demographic that is more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 cases.

As of Tuesday, about half of all North Carolinians and 59% of those eligible, ages 12 and up, are fully vaccinated.

Of those 65 or older, 86% are fully vaccinated.

Nationally, those rates are 53%, 62% and 82% respectively, according to the CDC.

As of Tuesday, 644,848 Americans, including 14,831 North Carolinians, have died due to COVID-19.

Of those who have died in North Carolina, nearly 80% have been among those age 65 or older.