Mecklenburg sees 268 new COVID-19 cases as statewide hospitalizations top 1,000

Mecklenburg County has seen a total of 13,757 coronavirus cases since mid-March, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday.

The county added 268 new cases from the previous day, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported.

The state now has more than 1,000 COVID-19 related hospitalizations for the first time since the start of the pandemic, with 1,034 hospitalizations on Thursday, a 40 person increase from Wednesday’s report, according to The (Raleigh) News & Observer.

Health officials say 163 people with COVID-19 have died locally, as of July 8. More than half of those were people connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, according to the health department.

Statewide, DHHS reported 2,039 new cases, increasing the total number to 79,349. The state reported 20 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total to 1,461 deaths in North Carolina.

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of July 5 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:

▪ During the past week, an average of 165 individuals 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 11.6% of individuals who were tested were positive for COVID-19 during the past week. Mecklenburg County Public Health says this represents a “slight increase” over the last 14 days. These data only include tests conducted by Atrium Health, Novant Health and CVS Health.

▪ Most people — about three in four out of more than 12,400 cases — were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.

▪ After symptoms of coronavirus subside, a person diagnosed may be “released” from isolation under CDC guidelines. In Mecklenburg, nearly half of the people who tested positive have met the criteria to end isolation, according to local health officials.

▪ About 1 in 20 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 majority of people who have died from COVID-19 locally were connected to “active outbreaks” in long-term care facilities or nursing homes. Still, two of the 155 deaths recorded as of July 5 were among people who had no known underlying conditions. And 19 of the people who died were between the ages of 40 to 59.