Health Team

COVID metrics trending down in NC despite concerns over start of school, respiratory season

Posted 2023-09-27T20:37:19+00:00 - Updated 2023-09-27T20:37:19+00:00

FILE — A COVID-19 test swab is placed into a tube in Hilversum, the Netherlands, on Nov. 10, 2020. The COVID-19 variant EG.5 is spreading quickly, but experts say it’s no more dangerous than previous versions. (Ilvy Njiokiktjien/The New York Times)

Nakya Carter

Good news when it comes to COVID in North Carolina—several key metrics continue trending downward after a late summer surge.

Hospitalization, emergency department visits for COVID-like symptoms and wastewater monitoring are all down this week compared to last week, state data shows.

The decreases are slight, dropping a few percentages.

Data reveals that 608 hospital admissions for COVID-19 were reported this week alone, only 15 less than the admissions from last week.

Also, the data shows 7.8% of emergency room visits had symptoms of a respiratory virus, a decrease from the week before. The week before it was 8.2%.

Health officials expressed concerns that kids being back in school and the usual respiratory season starting could potentially result in numbers moving upward.

Numbers remain incredibly high compared to late spring and early summer -- around the time the pandemic was declared over.

For example, there are eight times more virus particles present in wastewater now than three months ago.

Because of that, doctors are suggesting people remain vigilant in masking up, taking precautions that are best for them and their families – and getting the latest COVID vaccine as well as flu shots to assure the safety of you and loved ones.

However, for the week ending Sept. 20, there was an average of 34.9 million COVID-19 virus particles per person found in wastewater samples statewide. It’s a decrease from the week ending Sept. 13, when it was 36.6 million.