Meck tops 3,000 COVID cases, reports new death of person with no prior health concerns
Mecklenburg County health officials say a person who had no previously known health conditions has died locally from COVID-19. It’s the first time county officials have identified a coronavirus-related death of someone who didn’t have an underlying condition.
The person was 43-years-old, county officials said in a news statement Friday.
A total of 73 people in Mecklenburg have died with COVID-19. All but one, according to health officials, were age 50 or older and had underlying health conditions, which experts say increases the risk of severe complications from the virus. Of the deaths reported, nearly half have been connected to long-term care centers or nursing homes.
Mecklenburg County has seen a total of 3,001 coronavirus cases as of Friday late afternoon, according to an update on the health county’s social media. The number is cumulative since mid-March.
Earlier Friday, state health officials reported 60 new cases from the previous day, for a total of 2,954. That comes after an increase Thursday of 114 new cases, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported. From May 16 to 22, the average number of new cases reported daily in Mecklenburg was 85.
More than 1,700 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the county have recovered and since been released from isolation, according to the latest figures released on May 17.
Statewide, DHHS reported 758 new cases Friday, for a total of 21,618, and 12 more deaths, for a total of 728.
Mecklenburg COVID-19 update
As of May 20 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:
▪ An average of about 62 people with lab-confirmed coronavirus infections were hospitalized at acute-care facilities in the past week. Those numbers reflect a “slight increase over the past two weeks, according to Mecklenburg health officials.
▪ An average of 6.3% of people who were tested were positive, showing a decrease over the last 14 days, health officials say. The figure includes only COVID-19 tests conducted by Atrium Health and Novant Health.
▪ About 3 in 4 people diagnosed with COVID-19 locally were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.
▪ About 1 in 8 people diagnosed were hospitalized due to their illness. People age 60 or older were more likely to need hospital care compared to younger people with coronavirus.
“Many individuals infected by COVID-19 have not been tested because they are asymptomatic or do not meet current CDC recommendations for testing. As such, these results are very fluid and only represent a fraction of the true burden of COVID-19 in our community,” Mecklenburg health officials said late last week in a news statement.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhy don't we know how many tests have been done in Mecklenburg County?
Mecklenburg County Health Department collects data from local hospitals on the number of tests administered. County officials have said they do not know how many tests have been done outside of hospitals.
Non-hospital test centers and private labs report the number of tests and outcomes directly to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The state health department reports on its website a daily count of the number of tests performed across North Carolina. A county-by-county breakdown of the number of tests has not been provided publicly.
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 11:34 AM.
