Mecklenburg coronavirus cases ‘rapidly’ increase to 500+, with 3 deaths

Mecklenburg County reported 533 coronavirus cases Thursday, and officials also reported the county’s third death of the outbreak. The increase of 68 cases, or 15%, from the previous day added to what the health director has labeled an “acceleration phase.”

“We don’t expect numbers to drop right away,” the county said in an afternoon tweet. “Community spread is here, so assume you’re going to be exposed if you’re out and about.”

The rising numbers came as COVID-19 cases were also reported among prison inmates and Charlotte’s homeless. Preparations continued for a surge of patients that experts fear could overwhelm hospitals, as Atrium Health said it was preparing to set up a field hospital and UNC Charlotte offered the use of six now-empty dormitories.

Mecklenburg officials said the third local death related to coronavirus was of an 89-year-old victim with underlying health conditions. The person died Thursday. Gaston County confirmed its first death from COVID-19, a patient in their 80s with underlying health problems who died Wednesday night.

Statewide cases reached 2,023 in 83 counties, with 18 deaths, according to DHHS and county data. There were 184 hospitalized coronavirus patients in North Carolina, as of late Thursday.

Four North Carolina inmates and four prison employees have now been diagnosed with COVID-19, the state’s prison commissioner announced Thursday. Outbreaks are also ongoing in four nursing homes and three residential care facilities, DHHS said.

Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris spoke Thursday morning with state lawmakers at a legislative health committee meeting. Part of her presentation included figures showing the number of cases “rapidly” increasing locally.

The first coronavirus case in Mecklenburg was reported a little more than three weeks ago, on March 11. Harris identified the past 10 days as part of the outbreak’s “acceleration phase.”

Harris’ analysis of the approximately 300 cases reported through March 28 showed a disproportionate number of cases among African Americans, who made up 44% of cases but are only 33% of the county’s population. While only one out of four people who tested positive for COVID-19 were hospitalized, more than half of those who were admitted were at least 60 years old.

About 60 people who are homeless have suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus, Harris told the legislators. She said 58 people, all but one of them homeless, are staying in a hotel leased by the county for people who have tested positive for the virus or display symptoms and are awaiting results.

The homeless population is particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, experts say, because it is more difficult to practice social distancing and good hygiene habits, and many people have underlying health conditions.

Harris said the county is working with shelters to move out people with symptoms and reduce the risk of additional spread. Nearly 3,800 people in Mecklenburg County were homeless as of Feb. 29, according to county data.

Medical professionals, NASCAR engineers step up

As the coronavirus toll rises, medical professionals and those new to healthcare are stepping up efforts to prevent its spread.

Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods said Thursday that the Charlotte-based hospital system will set up a field hospital “in a matter of weeks,” to prepare for a surge of COVID-19 patients he expects to see in mid-April to mid-May.

A predictive model shows that Atrium will need “significantly more” hospital beds than it currently has, Woods said at Atrium’s board of commissioners meeting. Atrium has already increased bed capacity in hospitals by postponing non-essential surgeries.

Hospital staff members on the front lines of the outbreak response share camaraderie doing an essential job, Raleigh’s News & Observer reported, but with the anxiety of knowing that the work presents a potentially fatal threat.

They are developing new procedures to protect and treat patients efficiently, with a wary eye on the low supply of protective gear. And they’ve changed the way they work to prevent the pathogen’s spread to uninfected patients and to keep it out of their own homes.

DHHS reported Thursday that 34% of North Carolina’s 21,000 hospital beds are empty, and that 20% of 3,200 intensive-care beds are unused. Only 22% of the state’s 2,800 ventilators are in use, according to reports by 87% of the state’s hospitals.

University of Washington COVID-19 projections, which are updated regularly, predicted Thursday that North Carolina’s need for hospital resources will peak on April 26. At that point, the state would face a shortage of 213 intensive care beds and 624 ventilators, which help respiratory patients breathe.

The projections say 51 North Carolina patients a day will die by April 27 and that about 1,500 people will have died by early August.

UNCC has offered six of its dorms to become emergency space under state and local efforts to combat COVID-19. The dorms, in what is known as the university’s “South Village,” have been unoccupied since the university suspended traditional classes on March 11.

It’s unclear whether the dorms would be used as emergency medical facilities or as housing for first-responders to the outbreak.

Engineers at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, meanwhile, have turned their attention from engine testing and post-race car inspections to a new priority: 3D-printing face shields for hospitals short on protective equipment.

A group of about 10 engineers, working from dawn to midnight, have assembled around 200 face shields since last week. Most were delivered to Novant Health, which serves hospitals in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Stats reflect widespread pain

About 355,000 claims for unemployment benefits have been filed in North Carolina since the outbreak began, Lockhart Taylor, assistant secretary for the state Department of Commerce, told reporters Thursday. Most claims have been related to COVID-19.

Taylor acknowledged problems people have had in filing claims online and getting help by phone. The department has added 350 additional staff members, modified its phone system and increased the capacity of its computer servers, he said.

“I promise you we will do it faster,” he said. It takes about 14 days to begin receiving benefits, Taylor said.

Data from local, state and federal agencies, tech companies and other sources illustrates the coronavirus’ heavy footprint on North Carolinas — and not all of it in bad ways — less than a month since the first case was reported March 3:

▪ The state saw a 40% drop in home sales in February, compared to the same month last year. But foreclosures fell by 23% between January and February.

▪ Flights out of the Charlotte and Raleigh airports have decreased by one-third, but gas averaged $1.80 per gallon on March 30 compared to $2.24 a month earlier.

▪ North Carolina issued more than 7,300 concealed carry permits in March, up from just over 6,000 in February and more than 5,600 in January.

▪ In both Charlotte and Raleigh, incidents reported by police declined significantly.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.

This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 11:27 AM.