6 people are testing positive for COVID-19 each minute in NC, WRAL analysis shows

Six people are testing positive for COVID-19 every minute in North Carolina, according to an analysis from WRAL Data Trackers.

More than 2,100 people are hospitalized across the state with COVID-19. That's a more than 20% increase from last week, according to state data

Wake County mayors say they won't reinstate mask mandate even as cases surge

While still relatively low, the number of pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations has also increased since last week. At least 31 children across the state are hospitalized with the virus.

"We are starting to see [hospitalizations] increase. We are concerned and we certainly want to keep an eye on that," said Susan Kansagra, senior deputy director for public health. "We don't know if omicron [will] increase in number of cases, given that its milder, if we're still going to see a large number of hospitalizations."

A quarter of all people hospitalized in the state have COVID-19 — and the majority of those people are unvaccinated. 63% of people in North Carolina are fully vaccinated and around 39% of those people have received a booster shot, according to state data.

"If you're not vaccinated, then you have to really be worried about this, because that's who's filling up our hospitals," said Dr. David Wohl, infectious disease physician for the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine.

North Carolina Coronavirus dashboard - Maps, charts and data

On top of this jump in hospitalizations, more than 17% of North Carolinians who got a test result back on Monday tested positive, according to DHHS data. Nearly 22% of people in North Carolina who tested for coronavirus on Sunday tested positive.

While Monday's test positivity rate is lower than Sunday's, it's still dangerously high, according to officials at the World Health Organization. They recommend that governments should only reopen if their case positivity rate is at or below 5% for 14 days.