Mecklenburg eclipses 100 COVID-19 deaths, sees another triple-digit daily case count

Total coronavirus-related deaths among Mecklenburg residents eclipsed 100 Wednesday evening, forging a somber milestone as confirmed cases have continued to skyrocket locally.

Mecklenburg County has seen a total of 4,842 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to state health data Thursday morning. The number is cumulative since mid-March. There have been 105 deaths as of Thursday evening, according to county data.

The county added 172 new cases from the previous day, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported. There’s been a triple-digit increase in total cases in Mecklenburg each of the last eight days, according to the data.

Those sharp increases are tied to expanded coronavirus testing, as well as more commercial and recreational activities among residents as the state gradually reopens, Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris has said.

Hospitalizations and the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 have followed upward trajectories in recent weeks, while social distancing drops, Harris told county commissioners Tuesday.

Harris said that a new surge of cases linked to ongoing demonstrations could emerge within two weeks, based on the incubation period of the virus.

More than half of the 102 who have died in Mecklenburg were people connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, according to the health department.

Statewide, DHHS reported 1,189 new cases Thursday, for a total of 31,966, and 21 more deaths, for a total of 960.

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of May 31 — the last date demographic data was 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 with 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.

This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 12:40 PM.