North Carolina has had a total of 1,472,655 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began, 2,160 new cases reported since Tuesday and 1,406 people in the hospital.
Governor Roy Cooper in an address on Wednesday said state officials are relieved to see fewer people requiring hospital care and ICU beds for COVID-19, as well as a decline in the percentage of tests positive tests and an increase in the number of people vaccinated.
“I want to thank businesses and other employers that have instituted strong vaccine requirements for employees and customers,” he said, “This has helped increase our vaccine rate, but more than anything it has saved lives and helped boost our economy. Your leadership is making a difference.”
However, Cooper said there are still challenges.
“There is significant burnout among health care workers which is causing a strain. The best way to help them is to get vaccinated, as the vast majority of their sickest COVID patients continue to be unvaccinated people,” he said.
The governor said getting the shot significantly lowers the chance of severe symptoms or death from COVID-19 and lowers the chance that someone could spread it to family.
The federal government is soon expected to give the green light to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 years old, and Cooper said North Carolina health officials have been preparing for this and working to ensure parents can easily get their children vaccinated and protected.
He said, “Once authorized, we want to ensure that vaccines for children are accessible all across our state, in their pediatrician’s offices and other places parents know and trust.”
Even amid the improvements in recent days, Cooper said North Carolina’s fight is not over and while the state is making great progress, health officials and people living in the state need to keep working to continue the downward trend, because hospitalizations and deaths are still too high.