CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the fifth time in eight days, North Carolina health officials announced a new single-day record for COVID-19 infections, with 24,292 cases announced Thursday.
With Thursday's report, the average daily increase in cases statewide has more than doubled from its level one week ago.
The Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reported 3,293 hospitalizations statewide due to the virus. Nine of the last 10 days have seen an increase of at least 100 patients, and coronavirus patient counts are on one of the fastest rises of the pandemic, with a record-setting one-day increase of 256 from Sunday to Monday.
This comes despite early research that, in general, the omicron COVID-19 variant causes less severe disease in those it infects.
However, doctors worry the sheer number of daily case counts will still translate into large hospitalization figures.
"If omicron put people in the hospital like delta did, the healthcare system would have collapsed in our country by now," Dr. David Priest, an infectious disease specialist with Novant Health, said in a hospital briefing this week.
North Carolina's two-week positivity rate is 21.2%, with the last three days hovering around 30% for all tests. Thursday's report is the third new single-day case record in 2022.
NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley announced Thursday that North Carolina is following the CDC's lead and will recommend the Pfizer COVID-19 booster for children ages 12 to 15 to help protect against the highly contagious omicron variant.
Gov. Roy Cooper said he understands it can be scary to see so many people testing positive for the virus but explained that the omicron variant appears to be less severe for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted.
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