76 new coronavirus cases, 1 new death in Mecklenburg, officials say
Mecklenburg County now has at least 741 reported cases of COVID-19, the county’s Joint Information Center reported Monday.
And Mecklenburg reported one more death since late Sunday, reaching a total of seven coronavirus-related deaths in the county. The county saw an increase of 76 COVID-19 cases between Monday and Sunday as more test results were reported.
Mecklenburg has more than double the number of COVID-19 cases reported in Wake County, according to the state data. Statewide, there are at least 2,870 cases, DHHS reported Monday. Nearly one-quarter of reported COVID-19 cases in North Carolina are in Mecklenburg County.
In a state press conference Monday, RTI International senior epidemiologist Pia MacDonald said COVID-19 cases tend to spread quickly.
“It’s a very contagious disease,” MacDonald said. “And we can see rapid growth (in cases) and we’ve seen that in North Carolina and Mecklenburg.”
New cases
Charlotte Area Transit System said Monday a public transit employee has tested positive for COVID-19, the first case reported to CATS. The employee works in CATS’ bus operations division but is not a bus driver, officials said.
CATS previously announced it would cut schedules and increase cleanings as ridership began to fall during the outbreak of the new strain of coronavirus. And fares would be free, the authority said in late March.
A detention officer with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office tested positive for COVID-19, the sheriff reported Monday. The officer was screened before work on Friday and showed symptoms of COVID-19.
Nearby counties
Catawba County Public Health officials on Monday announced one new case of COVID-19, bringing that county’s total to 25 positive cases, including a death — the county’s first — announced Friday.
And Richmond County, N.C., reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 Monday. The county received the positive test result late Sunday, according to the Richmond County Health Department.
Avery County is now the closest county to Mecklenburg that has yet to report a confirmed case of COVID-19. As of Friday, Avery had tested 52 people for the coronavirus strain and seen 42 negative results, according to western NC county. Ten tests were pending.
Social distancing
In a Monday DHHS news conference, health science experts released the first results of COVID-19 predictive modeling for the state.
Mark Holmes, director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the model compared North Carolina cases in two potential scenarios: if social distancing continues past April 29 or if all social distancing policies are ended on April 29.
The governor’s stay at home order went into effect March 30, and is set to run through April 29. The order could be changed or extended.
If social distancing efforts continue after April 29 and current rates of transmission reduction remain the same, the group of health scientists estimates roughly 250,000 North Carolinians would be infected by the end of May, Holmes said Monday.
But if all social distancing efforts end on April 29, Holmes said that number could triple — estimating roughly 750,000 N.C. residents would be infected.
The increase in cases would increase the probability that patients would overwhelm hospitals, Holmes said.
The predictive model did not directly predict possible deaths in North Carolina, said Pia MacDonald, senior epidemiologist of RTI International. But a shortage in beds would likely lead to an increase in deaths.
“We know that if you run out of hospital beds, and people cannot get access to the hospital beds and the care they need, you will have more deaths,” she said.
BEHIND THE STORY
MORECorrection
An earlier version of this story misstated how many cases have been reported on UNC Charlotte campuses based on information publicly stated by the university. Early Monday, the university updated its website to show there was an additional case. Later, university officials clarified that was incorrect. There were two known cases of coronavirus as of late Monday.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 11:24 AM.
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