Mecklenburg COVID-19 hospitalizations, percent of positive tests continue to climb
Key metrics that measure the spread of COVID-19 in Mecklenburg County have continued to climb as the state reopens.
Mecklenburg has seen a total of 4,519 coronavirus cases, an increase of 107 cases from Monday, according to state health data Tuesday afternoon. The number is cumulative since mid-March.
Over the last 14 days, key trends including hospitalizations and percent of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 have increased, said the Mecklenburg County Health Department. There has also been a slight decrease in social distancing — measured by mobility tracking data — though social distancing is still higher than before the stay-at-home order, according to county health officials.
“These increasing trends are a clear sign that COVID-19 continues to spread throughout our community,” county Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said Friday in a statement. “With expanded testing and increased commercial and recreational activity, we anticipated these increases.”
In May, Mecklenburg health officials said they’re increasing COVID-19 testing and want to nearly double the number of tests administered weekly, which would likely lead to larger daily increases in new cases. So far, the county is slightly behind its goal of testing more than 55,000 people over a 30-day period.
Health officials say 95 people with COVID-19 have died locally, as of Monday evening. More than half of those were people connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, according to the health department.
Roughly two-thirds of people with reported Mecklenburg cases have since recovered, according to county health officials.
But since the state began a phased re-opening on May 8, daily reported cases have increased.
Between June 2 and May 27, the average number of new cases reported daily in Mecklenburg was 160. However, for the seven days prior to that the average number of new cases reported daily was 100.
Statewide, DHHS reported 626 new cases Tuesday, for a total of 29,889, and 23 more deaths, for a total of 921.
Mecklenburg COVID-19 update
As of May 31 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:
▪ An average of about 85 people with lab-confirmed coronavirus infections were hospitalized at acute-care facilities in the past week. Those numbers reflect an increase over the past two weeks, according to Mecklenburg health officials.
▪ An average of 9.4% of people who were tested were positive, showing a slight increase 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.
▪ Around 2 in 3 cases have met the criteria to be released from isolation.
▪ About 1 in 10 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.
▪ The exact number of people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg with COVID-19 is unknown and many people with the virus have not been tested, health officials say. The case total likely represents a “fraction” of all people with coronavirus, Mecklenburg officials have said.
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 June 2, 2020 at 1:23 PM.
