COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to increase throughout the state. WXII spoke with an infectious disease expert from Wake Forest Baptist Health to break it all down. As the positivity rate rises to nearly 9% in our state, locally in Forsyth County, Dr. Chris Ohl with Wake Forest Baptist Health said cases are also rising in unvaccinated people.“Our cases are up, Forsyth County, they are probably up 200%, 250% from where they were a few weeks ago, but that is going from a very small number to kind of a modestly high number,” said Dr. Chris Ohl, Infectious Diseases Expert with Wake Forest Baptist Health. Throughout the state, hospitalizations are also on the rise. More than 940 people are battling COVID-19 in North Carolina hospitals. Dr. Ohl said the majority of hospitalizations are almost all in people who are unvaccinated. “Almost all well over 99% every now and then somebody is immunocompromised and they are hospitalized with it because they don’t respond to the vaccine as well and they may be getting a third dose of the vaccine in the near future,” he said.More than 13,500 people have died in North Carolina due to COVID-19. And with the more highly transmissible delta variant now the most dominant strain in the United States, Ohl said it is going to take advantage of groups of people who are not wearing masks and who are unvaccinated. He is asking people who are hesitant about getting a vaccine, to talk with their doctor. “The big thing is for people to get vaccinated and for those who have questions get your questions answered and talk to your physician talk to your health care provider that you trust that you’ve been seeing talk with your public health people,” he said. Ohl said the best way to beat this virus is to get vaccines into people's arms.