2 more deaths in Mecklenburg as new COVID-19 cases dip below average

New coronavirus cases reported Monday in Mecklenburg fell far below recent averages and county health officials reported two more COVID-19 related deaths.

The additional 192 cases identified locally marks the first time since July 8 and only the third time in the last 30 days that daily new cases in Mecklenburg fell below 200, state health data show.

Because day-to-day numbers will fluctuate and may not represent a trend, health officials typically look at seven or 14-day averages for new cases. A recent increase in testing turnaround times also affects when positive cases are reported.

The local average over the past week is 322 cases added per day. The 14-day average is 319. During the same time period, the percent of positive tests in Mecklenburg has hovered around 11%.

There have been 29 deaths in Mecklenburg in July so far, slightly behind the pace of deaths during the month of June. A total of 179 people have died, including two new deaths reported late Sunday.

Mecklenburg has seen a total of 17,571 cases cumulatively since mid March, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Statewide, North Carolina surpassed 100,000 cumulative cases of COVID-19 on Monday. DHHS reported 1,268 new cases Monday, for a total of 101,046. The state reported eight new deaths for a total of 1,642.

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of July 15 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:

▪ During the past week, an average of 178 individuals with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. Health officials say this trend has been stable over the past two weeks. However, the number of people needing hospital-level care with COVID-19 has been steadily increasing locally since May and peaked on in early July with more than 180 patients per day.

▪An average of 11.3% of individuals who were tested were positive for COVID-19 during the past week. Mecklenburg County Public Health says this represents a “fairly stable trend” over the last 14 days. These data only include tests conducted by Atrium Health, Novant Health and CVS Health.

▪ Most people — about 60% of more than 15,600 cases — were adults under the age of 40. People older than 60 account for less than 12% of all cases reported but more than 85% of all deaths.

▪ 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.

▪ Just more than half of those 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 169 deaths recorded as of July 15 were among people who had no known underlying conditions. Twenty-two of the people who died were between the ages of 40 to 59, and one person was under the age of 40.

This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 1:39 PM.