COVID-19 trends continue to increase in Mecklenburg, new numbers show
Mecklenburg continues to see an increase in key trends health officials use to measure the spread of COVID-19, but state health data on Tuesday showed the county recorded its smallest single-day increase in cases in two weeks.
Mecklenburg has seen a total of 5,744 coronavirus cases, an increase of 62 cases from Monday, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported. The number is cumulative since mid-March.
The increase comes after 12 straight days of daily new cases of over 100.
County health officials say 114 people with COVID-19 have died locally, as of Tuesday. Nearly two-thirds of Mecklenburg County COVID-19 deaths were people connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, according to the health department.
Almost all Mecklenburg residents who have died due to COVID-19 have been 60 years old or older. As of Sunday, eight people who died were between the ages of 40 and 59.
Statewide, DHHS reported 676 new cases Tuesday, for a total of 37,160, and 23 more deaths, for a total of 1,029.
Mecklenburg COVID-19 update
As of June 7 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:
▪ An average of about 98 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 9.7% 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.
▪ About 3 in 4 people diagnosed with COVID-19 locally were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.
▪ More than half of Mecklenburg 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.
.jpg)