Hospitalizations Spike In NC As Number Of New COVID Cases Mount

NORTH CAROLINA — As the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to mount in North Carolina, hospital beds throughout the state are starting to fill, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services data.

Nearly 2,200 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in North Carolina Monday, increasing the daily percent positive rate of tests to nearly 11 percent, DHHS said. An estimated 58 percent of the state's adult population was fully vaccinated against COVID.

Hospitalizations for COVID-related illness have skyrocketed in the state in the past month as the spread of the Delta variant outpaced the state's lagging vaccination rate. As of Monday, at least 1,359 patients were seeking medical treatment in North Carolina hospitals, up from 391 reported just one month earlier.

Of those hospitalized Monday, 27 percent were adult patients in intensive care units and 12 percent were patients on a ventilator, DHHS said. According to the agency data, about 80 percent of the state's staffed ICU beds were filled.

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In the Charlotte metro region, hospitals reported 348 COVID patients, 78 of whom were ICU patients.

As the number of new COVID cases continue to rise throughout the state, North Carolina officials are turning up the pressure on those who remain unvaccinated. Beginning Sept. 1, state workers will be asked to provide verification that they've been vaccinated, or face weekly testing and mandatory mask policy, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday.

"Our trends have turned sharply in the wrong direction," Cooper said. "Unvaccinated people are driving this resurgence and getting themselves and other people sick," he said.

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Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation of masking up indoors regardless of vaccination status, two large North Carolina companies are now requiring employees use face coverings indoors.

Lowe's home improvement stores announced Monday it will now require its workers to mask up indoors in all its U.S. stores, as well as while working inside customers' homes and businesses. The new policy stops short of requiring its customers to do the same, however. "Stores will have signs encouraging customers to wear masks, and free masks will continue to be available for customers who request them," it said in a statement.

Duke Energy also announced an indoor mask mandate for its employees, the Charlotte Observer reported.

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