COVID-19 Hospitalizations Surge Near 4,000 Mark In NC

CHARLOTTE, NC — Nearly 4,000 North Carolinians were hospitalized for coronavirus-related illness Tuesday as state public health officials confirmed nearly 7,000 new COVID-19 cases in the span of a day.

As of Tuesday, the state had 635,975 known cases of COVID-19.

Hospitalizations rose to 3,940 Jan. 12, representing an increase of 97 patients since Monday, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The rise in hospitalizations meant about 85 percent of staffed intensive care unit beds and about 76 percent of the state's staffed inpatient beds were full.

In the 13 counties comprising the Charlotte metro region, medical resources were growing thinner. As of Tuesday, 35 of the region's staffed ICU beds and 1,026 staffed inpatient beds remained available. DHHS said.

Statewide, COVID-related deaths rose to 7,638, an increase of 60 lives lost to the virus since Monday.

"In the 10 months that we've been fighting this pandemic, this is the most worried that I've been for our state," DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said Friday. "We continue to set new records."
Those new records include intensive care unit hospitalizations, which have led many hospitals to put a halt to non-urgent procedures to free up staff, she said.

Cohen credited the dramatic rise in cases in North Carolina to exponential growth and general fatigue of following pandemic guidelines, as well as people letting their guard down around the holidays.

"We know that there was holiday travel. We know that these increased cases are linked to the fact that folks are getting together indoors and not wearing their mask," Cohen said.

SEE ALSO: Highly Contagious COVID-19 Variant Likely In NC: DHHS Secretary

On the horizon, is another factor: A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 that is likely already circulating in North Carolina, she said.

The variant, which is no more dangerous than the original virus but is much more easily transmitted from person to person, was first found in the United States Tuesday in Colorado. Officials in the U.K. claimed, without verification, that the new variant is as much as 53 to 70 percent more contagious than the original virus that originated in China, prompting new shutdowns in London. Both vaccines approved for usage in the United States are believed to be effective in protecting against the multiple variants of the coronavirus. Ongoing tests are being conducted in England to determine antibody and vaccine efficacy in protecting against the new variant.

"It is possible that that variant is here. In fact, it is likely," Cohen said. While it has not been identified in North Carolina, public health officials are operating under the assumption it is circulating, she said.

"We are operating as if it's already here and that we need to realize that this virus was already contagious before, and now it's even more contagious as we go forward," she said.

Paige Austin, Patch staff, contributed