Mecklenburg’s coronavirus case tally rises after reaching grim milestone this weekend
Mecklenburg recorded 227 new coronavirus infections Sunday — nearly 100 fewer from the previous day, when the county surpassed 19,000 cases in another grim milestone amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mecklenburg has now tallied 19,268 coronavirus cases, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported late Sunday morning. The number is cumulative since mid-March.
In the past week, Mecklenburg had averaged about 270 new cases daily, according to state health data. Local officials say three-quarters of all cases are among adults ages 20 to 59. But adults ages 60 and older are more likely to be hospitalized with “severe COVID-19 complications” and require intensive care.
Health officials say 188 people with COVID-19 have died locally, as of Sunday afternoon.
Statewide, DHHS reported 1,621 new cases Sunday, for a total of 112,713 and seven more deaths, for a total of 1,785.
Mecklenburg COVID-19 update
As of July 22 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:
▪ During the past week, an average of 197 individuals with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. Health officials say this trend represents a slight increase over the past two weeks. The number of people needing hospital-level care with COVID-19 has been steadily increasing locally since May.
▪An average of 10.9% of individuals who were tested were positive for COVID-19 during the past week. Mecklenburg County Public Health says this represents a stable trend over the last 14 days. The data only include tests conducted by Atrium Health, Novant Health and CVS Health.
▪ Most people — about 60% of more than 18,000 cases — were adults under the age of 40. People older than 60 account for less than 12% of all cases reported but about 85% of all deaths.
▪ After symptoms of coronavirus subside, a person diagnosed may be “released” from isolation under CDC guidelines. In Mecklenburg, roughly 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 than younger people with coronavirus.
▪ More than half of the people who have died from COVID-19 locally were connected to active outbreaks in long-term care facilities or nursing homes. Still, three of the 186 deaths recorded as of July 22 were among people who had no known underlying conditions. Twenty-four of the people who died were between the ages of 40 and 59, and three people were under the age of 40.
This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 1:05 PM.