Mecklenburg records another triple-digit increase in new COVID-19 cases, NC data show

Mecklenburg County has seen a total of 3,380 coronavirus cases, according to state health data published Monday morning. The number is cumulative since mid-March.

The county added 149 new cases from the previous day, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported.

Mecklenburg has recorded five single-day, triple-digit increases of new cases, the first on May 14. Saturday marked the county’s largest single-day increase, with nearly 200 new cases reported.

County health officials report 74 people with COVID-19 have died locally, according to data published Friday. More than half of local deaths were connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, health department officials have said.

The News & Observer is keeping track of coronavirus cases and deaths, with numbers that exceed state reports. The state reports data at about 11 a.m., while the N&O keeps track of new cases announced by counties throughout the day. As of early Monday afternoon, The N&O has counted 24,056 cases and 790 deaths

The increase in cases comes as North Carolina pushes for increased testing across the state.

Mecklenburg public health director Gibbie Harris said Friday Mecklenburg is “on target” to meet its goal to test about 55,500 people in 30 days.

The county is almost halfway into the 30-day timeline and tested 20,492 people from May 8 to May 20.

As testing and cases have increased, the county has reported a slight decline in percentage of positive tests, an important marker for health officials.

As of Wednesday, an average of 6.3% people who were tested were positive for COVID-19 in the past week. The figure includes only COVID-19 tests conducted by Atrium Health and Novant Health.

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of May 20 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:

▪ About 3 in 4 people diagnosed with COVID-19 locally were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.

▪ More than one-third of people with reported cases are Hispanic, most of them younger adults. Since testing has expanded, the share of cases in Hispanic individuals has grown.

▪ About 1 in 8 people diagnosed were hospitalized due to their illness. People 60 years or older were more likely to need hospital care compared with 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 have said.

This work was made possible in part by grant funding from Report for America/GroundTruth Project and the Foundation For The Carolinas.

This story was originally published May 25, 2020 at 2:40 PM.

Lauren Lindstrom

The Charlotte Observer

704-358-5346

Lauren Lindstrom is a reporter for the Charlotte Observer covering affordable housing. She previously covered health for The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, where she wrote about the state’s opioid crisis and childhood lead poisoning. Lauren is a Wisconsin native, a Northwestern University graduate and a 2019 Report for America corps member. Support my work with a digital subscription