Mayor Lyles asks for statewide mask mandate as Mecklenburg COVID-19 cases top 9,000

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles asked Gov. Roy Cooper to require all North Carolina residents to wear face masks in public as Mecklenburg County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 9,000 Tuesday.

“I support this for all of our citizens because it provides additional meaningful steps to help combat the spread of COVID-19,” Lyles wrote on Twitter.

Mecklenburg has seen a total of 9,086 coronavirus cases, according to state health data Tuesday morning. The number is cumulative since mid-March.

The county added 130 new cases from the previous day, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported. Tuesday marked the first day since June 17 that the number of new daily cases was under 200.

Health officials say 143 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.

Statewide, DHHS reported 848 new cases Tuesday, for a total of 54,453. DHHS also reported 28 more deaths, bringing North Carolina’s total to 1,251. There are currently 915 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state.

Cooper said last week that a cloth mask requirement is “absolutely in discussion.”

Lyles had said Monday that she was waiting to see whether Cooper announces a statewide mandate. That will be the deciding point for Charlotte and county leaders to continue discussions on potentially imposing a local mask requirement, she said.

Her tweet Tuesday drew both criticism and support on social media.

Some Twitter users commented that they would not wear a mask even with a mandate and pointed out that it would be hard to enforce. Many others voiced their support for Lyles and a face mask requirement.

“We need a mask mandate before it’s too late,” one commenter wrote. “And if (Cooper) doesn’t do it, then please make it mandatory for Charlotte.”

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of Sunday — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show that:

▪ During the previous week, an average of 128 individuals with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in the county. That represents an increase over the past 14 days.

▪An average of 9.4% of individuals tested were positive for COVID-19 during the past week. That represents a slight decrease over the past 14 days. The data only include tests conducted by Atrium Health and Novant Health.

▪ About three in four people diagnosed with COVID-19 locally were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.

▪ More than a third of individuals with confirmed COVID-19 cases locally are Hispanic, most of whom are younger adults.

▪ More than half of cases have met the criteria to be released from isolation.

▪ About one in 15 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.

▪ Over the past 14 days there has been a decrease in social distancing, based on publicly available mobility data.

County health officials have raised concerns in recent days over reduced social distancing. As more businesses reopen and travel increases, mobility data show Charlotte and Mecklenburg residents have significantly reduced their distancing, which helped slow the spread of the coronavirus in the spring. Mobility levels are now near what they were prior to the stay-at-home order.

The county health department late last week recommended that anyone who has been inside a crowded restaurant or brewery or who has attended a form of “mass gathering” should get tested for COVID-19.

This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 1:58 PM.