Hundreds more COVID-19 cases reported Saturday in Mecklenburg County

Hundreds of new COVID-19 cases were reported Saturday in Mecklenburg County, down only slightly from the previous day’s single-day high for the week, state health officials said.

Mecklenburg County has seen a total of 8,511 coronavirus cases, according to state health data Saturday morning. The number is cumulative since mid-March.

The county added 345 new cases from the previous day, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported. That’s 17 fewer people than Friday, which had the highest single-day number since Saturday, June 13.

Health officials say 137 people with COVID-19 have died locally as of Saturday. More than half of those were people connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, according to the health department.

North Carolina has officially surpassed 50,000 positive coronavirus cases, four months after recording its first case, according to data released by NC DHHS. It’s the 13th state to reach that milestone, according to a New York Times map of coronavirus cases across the country.

The state reported 1,549 new positive cases Saturday, bringing its official total to 51,389.

There have been 1,212 total COVID-19-related deaths in North Carolina, 15 more than Friday’s total, and 883 people are hospitalized, The (Raleigh) News and Observer reported. The 883 people hospitalized is also another one-day high.

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of June 17 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:

▪ During the past week, an average of 118 people with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. This represents an increase over the last 14 days.

▪An average of 11% of people who were tested were positive for COVID-19 during the past week. This represents an increase over the last 14 days. These data only include 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.

▪ About 1 in 12 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.

▪ Adherence to social distancing has decreased over the past two weeks, county officials said Friday, citing publicly available mobility tracking data. In a news release Friday, they said this mobility is getting closer to baseline levels before the stay-at-home order went into effect.