‘We do have community spread,’ manager says as Mecklenburg COVID-19 cases exceed 100 

County Manager Dena Diorio announced there are 106 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mecklenburg, as of Monday evening.

That marked an uptick of nine cases since the county released information on the pandemic Monday morning, Diorio said during a “teletown hall” with U.S. Rep Alma Adams.

“Every zip code in our county now has a positive case,” Diorio said in the town hall, which had about 2,650 callers. “And what that tells us is we do have community spread.”

Updated demographic information for Mecklenburg — including residence, age, gender, race and ethnicity — was not immediately available, a county spokesperson said. Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said the county plans to offer those more detailed breakdowns twice a week.

With public health officials now unable to determine the source of an infection, Diorio said, residents must view every interaction as as a potential exposure to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

In a virtual briefing earlier Monday, Diorio said that public health authorities had been anticipating the tally of coronavirus cases to steadily increase, keeping in step with expanded testing capacity.

Harris said the county was receiving “intermittent data,” with 3,000 tests pending. But Harris said the current volume of confirmed cases was “not encouraging.”

“People are continuing to act as though we do not have this infection in our community,” Harris said in the virtual county briefing Monday afternoon. “People need to assume that anyone in this community can be positive.”

Based on the confirmed cases as of Sunday, ZIP code 28277, encompassing Ballantyne, Piper Glen and other south Charlotte areas, had six or more cases. Another dense cluster of six or more cases was reported in east Charlotte in ZIP code 28205, including Plaza Midwood and Central Avenue.

Additional hotel rented

Diorio said Mecklenburg has leased three hotels to accommodate homeless people during the pandemic, as shelters wrestle with turning individuals away to maintain social distancing guidelines.

The county announced last Thursday it had leased an initial hotel with 123 rooms, though Diorio declined to give the location due to privacy concerns. Several county commissioners told The Charlotte Observer that the facility sounded more like a motel, with doors accessible from outdoors to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

The latest two hotels are intended for individuals who may need to self-isolate or quarantine, Diorio said in the town hall with Adams. As of last Thursday, no homeless residents had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Harris.

Due to the mounting coronavirus outbreak, Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden said his office will stop eviction removals for one month. In a separate effort to aid vulnerable residents, county officials announced Sunday evening that people living in hotels and motels would have access to short-term funds to avoid evictions.

This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 6:52 PM.