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COVID hospitalizations continue to climb in NC, with over 25% of adult patients in ICU

North Carolina saw more than 2,000 new cases of COVID-19 and nearly 200 new related hospitalizations on Monday, as the latter metric continues to rise in the state.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reports new COVID-19 figures daily Monday through Friday. On Monday, there were 2,190 new reported cases from Friday through Sunday, breaking a two-day trend last week of over 3,000 new cases of the virus.

Hospitalizations, which rose to 1,359, have continued to increase daily since July 9.

The state reported 35 new deaths, the most of any single day since May 3, when 40 deaths were reported. With the added deaths, the state’s running total rose to 13,670 since the pandemic began last year. Deaths do not necessarily occur on the day they are reported, and DHHS updates the total death toll as new information becomes available.

As of Sunday, there were 361 people with COVID-19 in intensive care units in North Carolina. That’s up from 293 the week before, and roughly 27% of adult patients hospitalized with the virus.

The percentage of tests returning positive rose to 10.6% Monday, up from 9.5% last week. That’s more than double the state’s target of 5%, which officials have said is needed to curb the spread of the virus.

As of Monday, 61% of adults in the state were at least partially vaccinated against the virus, while 58% were fully protected. North Carolina has consistently lagged behind the nation as a whole, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says has seen 69.9% of adults at least partially protected, and 60.5% fully vaccinated.

And in some parts of the state, like Columbus County, a high rate of transmission is paired with low vaccine numbers, The News & Observer reported.

Monday’s reported figures follow weeks of rising hospitalizations and new cases in the state. The spread of the delta variant, which health experts have warned is more contagious than the chickenpox, continues to pose a significant threat to those in North Carolina.

Despite growing concerns over the variant, vaccines have remained effective at preventing serious illness and lowering rates of transmission. As hospitalizations more than doubled over the course of July, DHHS said more than 94% of recent cases were among those who are not fully vaccinated against the virus.

And as of July 26, fewer than 0.004% of the more than 163 million vaccinated Americans had reported hospitalizations due to a breakthrough case of the virus, according to data from the CDC. Fewer than 0.001% of vaccinated Americans reported deaths from breakthrough cases of the virus.

At a press conference last week, Gov. Roy Cooper did not reinstate the mask mandate, but said unvaccinated people were “driving this resurgence and getting themselves and other people sick.”

DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen called the situation a pandemic “of the unvaccinated.”