COVID-19 hospitalizations tick upward as social distancing decreases; 215 new cases
As social distancing has decreased in Mecklenburg County, hospitalizations and the percent of positive tests have increased in the last month. The county added 215 new cases from Thursday, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported.
Daily case counts have sharply increased in the last three weeks. The last seven days, an average of 174 new coronavirus cases have been reported every day. The week before that — between March 29 and March 23 — the average number of daily cases was 126 and the week prior, the average was 81 new cases every day.
Mecklenburg County has seen a total of 5,057 coronavirus cases, according to state health data Friday afternoon. The number is cumulative since mid-March.
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.
Key metrics such as hospitalizations and the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 have also ticked upwards in recent weeks, while social distancing — measured by mobility data — has dropped, Harris said this week.
Harris said that a new surge of cases linked to ongoing protests could emerge within two weeks, based on the incubation period of the virus.
Health officials say 106 people with COVID-19 have died locally, as of Friday. More than half of those were connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, according to the health department.
Statewide, DHHS reported 1,289 new cases Friday, for a total of 33,255, and 6 more deaths, for a total of 966.
Mecklenburg COVID-19 update
As of June 3 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:
▪ An average of about 90 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. For comparison, during the week of May 6, 57 individuals were hospitalized.
▪ An average of 9.6% of people who were tested were positive, showing an increase over the last 14 days, health officials say. The figure includes only COVID-19 tests conducted by Atrium Health and Novant Health. During the first week of May, 7.5% of individuals tested were positive for COVID-19.
▪ 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.
