Hospitalizations continue to rise. COVID-19 patients trend younger, Charlotte doctor says

Mecklenburg County continued to report a high number of hospitalizations due to the coronavirus as it added 361 new cases on Tuesday, according to local and state health officials.

The average number of hospitalizations has been steadily increasing each week for the past 10 weeks, and the county reached an all-time daily high of 185 patients on July 8, an analysis of Mecklenburg County data by the Charlotte Observer shows.

According to the most recent data — released Tuesday and showing patients hospitalized through July 12 — the weekly average of local coronavirus hospitalizations was 175.

The weeks ending on July 5 and June 28 saw an average of 166 and 143 hospitalizations, respectively.

Hospitalization data show the number of COVID-19 patients has increased as Charlotte and North Carolina move further away from earlier stay-at-home orders. The number of people hospitalized hit a low point in early May, for example, with an average of 54.

Dr. Sid Fletcher, the chief clinical officer at Novant Health, told the Observer this week there’s been an increase of younger people in the hospital for the coronavirus.

“They have tended to not be quite as sick, and their age range has been a little bit lower,” Fletcher said. “In addition, the length of stay has been lower and the number of ICU beds has been lower.”

Fletcher said the local hospitalization figures include patients who are symptomatic or experiencing COVID complications — meaning if a person is hospitalized with non-COVID illness or injury but tests positive in the hospital, they are not generally included in the hospital’s census for coronavirus patients.

The weekly hospitalization data disclosed by the county, Fletcher said, largely reflects people who were first seen by their primary care physicians or the hospital’s emergency department.

Also Tuesday, Mecklenburg reported its first COVID-19-related death of a person under the age of 40. Based on the county’s reports of recent deaths, it appears the person had underlying health conditions and died within the last three days.

In total, 168 people have died in Mecklenburg, according to local health department officials. All but two had underlying conditions, officials say, and the majority of deaths were among people age 60 or older.

Despite rising cases and hospitalizations, the average percentage of positive tests remains steady at 11.5%, according to Tuesday’s data. Last week, the average test positivity rate was 11.4% and the week prior, it was 11.1%. This testing data only includes tests conducted by Atrium Health, Novant Health and CVS Health.

In total, Mecklenburg has seen 15,680 coronavirus cases, according to state health data Tuesday. The number is cumulative since mid-March.

Statewide, the Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,956 new cases Tuesday, for a total of 89,484, and 42 more deaths, for a total of 1,552.

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of July 12 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:

▪ Most people — about three in four out of nearly 14,500 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.

This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 2:08 PM.