COVID cases up 28% in NC, officials warn of summer surge – WRAL News
All early warning indicators for COVID are trending upward again in North Carolina, according to the latest report out on Wednesday from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
These most recent metrics are being released as former White House COVID Task Force leader Dr. Deborah Birx is warning about a possible summer surge.
Locally, hospital systems say they’re preparing.
“We did see a little tick up in the spring, probably related to springtime travel and holidays and time with the family,” said Dr. Lisa Pickett, the chief medical officer at Duke. “So we would anticipate a bit of a surge during the summer, but hopefully nothing as significant as we saw with omicron.”
The most significant increase over the last month comes from wastewater monitoring. The most recent state numbers show there are 12.2 million viral particles of COVID-19 in the state’s wastewater system. That’s up from 2.1 million in the beginning of April.
Health officials use wastewater viral load to predict how widespread the virus is in the population even if people aren’t getting tested or showing symptoms.
While cases aren’t being as closely monitored now since more people are testing at home, the state is still releasing weekly metrics which show those case rates are up. In fact, Durham County moved into a medium risk area due to their increasing cases, the county health department revealed on Wednesday, suggesting people take additional precautions.
A benchmark healthcare workers use for determining the severity of the virus at a certain time is how sick people are getting. In the last week, hospitalizations increased 45% to more than 370 people statewide requiring hospital care. While that number is up, it isn’t anything overwhelming, says Dr. David Wohl.
“Maybe the surge we’re worried about is happening now,” said Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at UNC. “Could we get another surge on top of that? Sure. But we have to distinguish between surge in cases and surge in overwhelming our hospital system, with people in the hospital and people on life support, in an ICU. There’s a disconnect [there.] We’re seeing a surge in cases. But so far, so good, not a surge in hospitalizations.”
The majority of people in the hospital are still not fully vaccinated, according to the healthcare workers. Pickett says that those who are fully vaccinated have a number of comorbities while Wohl said having the booster is really making a difference for many people.
Both doctors told us these last two years have taught them not only how to medically prepare for another surge, but how to emotionally be ready too.
“We can wishfully think that this is going to be different than we want it but that doesn’t get us where we need to go,” Wohl said. “All of us have to be resilient.”
