NC COVID cases decline, more patients in the ICU this week

North Carolina is averaging around 3,500 new coronavirus cases each day, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week that ended June 18, 2022, North Carolina reported more than more than 21,803 new coronavirus cases, which is fewer than the previous week. It’s around the same number of cases reported last July before cases of the delta variant began to climb.

Coronavirus cases, while down from last month, are still more than eight times higher than a year ago, in the week ending June 19, 2021.

North Carolina wastewater testing shows the number of COVID-19 particles detected in the state's wastewater increased slightly week-to-week, by around 4%, this week.

While weekly death totals have dropped from 31 to 19 this week, the number of coronavirus patients who had to be admitted to the intensive care unit increased, according to state data. As of this week, 92 patients were being treated in the ICU with COVID-19.

Hospitalizations had been increasing for several weeks in North Carolina until last week, when they appeared to peak at 889 patients.

Still around a quarter of all North Carolina's counties are considered "high" risk for COVID-19 spread, according to the CDC.

Wake County is under a medium risk warning, while Durham is still labeled high risk. ​​