Mecklenburg reports 6 new COVID-19 deaths, below average number of new cases

Six more people have died locally from COVID-19, bringing Mecklenburg’s total to 195 deaths, according to county health officials.

So far in July, 45 people have died, according to an Observer analysis of county health data. In June, a total of 57 county residents died from the coronavirus, Mecklenburg data show.

Mecklenburg County has seen a total of 19,924 coronavirus cases, according to state health data Wednesday morning. The number is cumulative since mid-March and includes 217 new cases reported Wednesday.

The average number of new cases daily over the past week is 264 — a decrease from last week’s seven-day average of 304 new cases.

Wednesday’s reported increase falls below the number of new cases per day seen throughout almost all of July.

Still, the county has seen the highest number of total positive cases than anywhere else in North or South Carolina. Mecklenburg has nearly double the number of cases than Wake County, which has the state’s second highest total at 10,464 cases, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Mecklenburg’s percent of positive COVID-19 tests — which dropped recently to 10% — is higher than the state’s average of 7%.

Statewide, DHHS reported 1,763 new cases Wednesday, for a total of 117,850, and 45 more deaths, for a total of 1,865. The state has completed 1,691,434 coronavirus tests, according to health officials.

Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of July 26 — 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 an increase over the past two weeks. The number of people needing hospital-level care with COVID-19 has been steadily increasing locally since May and peaked in late July with nearly 200 patients per day.

▪An average of 10.1% of individuals who were tested were positive for COVID-19 during the past week. Mecklenburg County Public Health says this represents a slight decrease over the last 14 days. These data only include tests conducted by Atrium Health, Novant Health and CVS Health. Those providers conduct the majority of tests locally.

▪ Most people — about 60% of more than 19,000 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 compared to younger people with coronavirus.

▪ About 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, three of the 169 deaths recorded as of July 26 were among people who had no known underlying conditions. Twenty-four of the people who died were between the ages of 40 to 59, and three people were under the age of 40.

This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 1:25 PM.