1 in 5 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Mecklenburg Co. need hospitalization, officials say 

Mecklenburg County has issued a three-week stay-at-home order, effective from Thursday through April 16, as the number of coronavirus infections rises to 142.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management Office issued the order after consultation among officials of the county, Charlotte and the county’s six towns, county manager Dena Diorio said Tuesday.

Under the order, county residents may visit grocery stores, pharmacies, health care providers if needed and restaurant drive-thrus and takeout services. They may take walks, play golf, care for family members and help others get needed supplies.

What they can’t do: Go to work unless their jobs provide “essential services,” visit family and friends — including those in hospitals except under limited circumstances — or travel unless for a permitted reason.

Mecklenburg County’s coronavirus cases totaled 142 through noon Tuesday, Diorio told county commissioners.

One in five patients was hospitalized Tuesday, she said. On Monday, the ratio was one in eight.

The numbers suggest that more patients are becoming seriously ill.

Nearly one in three of the 475 cases reported statewide was from Mecklenburg.

Hospitals support stay at home order

The chief executives of Charlotte’s largest hospital systems, Atrium Health and Novant Health, jointly wrote the county on Monday to request the stay-at-home order.

“Our predictive models show that we have hours, not days, to help flatten the curve in a way that does not overwhelm critical service,” they wrote.

The outbreak is personal for county commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, who revealed Tuesday that her husband had tested positive for COVID-19 after recently traveling to Scotland.

Rodriguez-McDowell said she has been in self-quarantine since last Tuesday, when her husband was initially tested. She attended the last two commissioner meetings by phone.

“He’s doing really great,” Rodriguez-McDowell said of her husband’s recovery.

Community spread in Mecklenburg County

County officials have said they expected the increase in positive cases to continue as the capability to test for COVID-19 expands. But infections are also spreading without clear sources of transmission — such as known contact with infected people — in a phenomenon called community spread.

Diorio said Tuesday that many residents have ignored existing social distancing recommendations, which advise people to stay at least six feet apart. That’s reflected in the demographics of reported cases.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 80% of the Mecklenburg County cases are people under age 59. Diorio said that is “an indication that older residents are heeding the warning to stay at home, while younger residents are not.”

The county has seen two cases in people under 19, public health Director Gibbie Harris said. Only 17% of Mecklenburg cases are in people over 60.

As of Tuesday, 21% of people who had tested positive for COVID-19 have been hospitalized, Harris added. Some of those people have since been released from the hospital.

Other racial and gender demographics of the positive cases through noon Monday: 53% were women and 47% men. Forty percent were white, 37% black, 7% Hispanic and 4% Asian.

Assume infections around you

Harris told county commissioners that residents should assume that people around them could be infectious. Staying the recommended six feet from others is vital, she said.

“We’re asking people to stay as home as much as you can,” she said. “The less you interact with other people, the less likely you are to spread the virus.”

Three other North Carolina communities had already issued orders similar to Mecklenburg’s, Raleigh’s News & Observer reported. Madison County in Western North Carolina, Pitt County and coastal Beaufort each asked residents on Monday to stay home and limit travel.

Gov. Roy Cooper has declined to issue a statewide order for what is often referred to as “shelter in place.” Cooper has urged employers to allow work from home where possible.

People who don’t comply with the Mecklenburg order could be charged with a misdemeanor under state law, county attorney Tyrone Wade said. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police will enforce it.

Commissioner Trevor Fuller urged young people, in particular, to take the proclamation seriously.

“This is America, but it won’t be America if we’re not alive,” he said. “If we waited any longer to do this, I believe, it would have been too late.”

Statewide cases growing fast

Statewide, the official total jumped to 398 cases on Tuesday morning, an increase of 101 cases from Monday. Raleigh’s News & Observer reported the actual total to be 479 cases by Tuesday evening, based on reports from the state and county health departments.

No deaths have been reported since the first N.C. case on March 3, according to data available late Tuesday.

The number of new infections is doubling every three days in New York, the nation’s epicenter for the coronavirus, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Dr. Elizabeth Tilson, the state health director, on Tuesday introduced a new testing protocol that prioritizes seniors and those with serious symptoms.

Those who experience mild symptoms but do not fall into an at-risk group should self-isolate for seven days after the onset of symptoms, Tilson said. Once symptoms resolve, those people should remain at home without fever for three additional days.

Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atrium Health said they have teamed up to open a drive-through coronavirus testing center at the zMAX Dragway in Concord. One of several Atrium testing sites, it’s open only to patients who have been screened for coronavirus symptoms, and a referral from a doctor is required. Walk-in testing is not available at the site.

Closures and delays continue

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will remain closed to students until May 15, under a new executive order by Cooper that extended a previous statewide school closure to help stop the spread of the virus.

The Charlotte Area Transit System has announced free fares but temporarily reduced bus and light rail schedules, effective Wednesday, as ridership plummeted.

Country music megastar Garth Brooks on Tuesday rescheduled his May 2 show at Bank of America Stadium to June 13. Brooks had sold out the 74,000-seat stadium in 90 minutes.

State and federal parks, meanwhile, are closing as recent warm weather brought ill-advised throngs of visitors in a time of social distancing.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation’s most-visited park, will close most areas at noon Tuesday through April 6. The popular DuPont State Recreational Forest south of Asheville will also close Tuesday.

State forestry officials said “crowds are gathering in parking areas and trailheads, which compromises the degree of social distancing needed to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 11:14 AM.