COVID-19 cases grow to 82, and 3 deaths, tied to cluster from NC church events
COVID-19 cases connected to events at a Charlotte church continue to climb, with 82 cases and three deaths reported as of Thursday night.
Mecklenburg County Public Health has attempted to contact 131 close contacts of the 82 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to the events at United House of Prayer for All People on Beatties Ford Road.
At least five people have been hospitalized in connection with the church outbreak, Mecklenburg Deputy Health Director Raynard Washington said in a statement Thursday.
The county tested at least 127 people for COVID-19 Thursday at the Northwest Health Department location at 2845 Beatties Ford Road. Mecklenburg will hold another testing event there Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The county first warned of the cluster on Saturday, Oct. 17, nearly a week after convocation events at the church ended. At the time, Mecklenburg officials said nine confirmed cases of the coronavirus had been linked to the church’s events from Oct. 10 and 11.
Since then, that number has quickly grown.
Washington has said he believes at least 1,000 people attended events at the church Oct. 4-11, based on videos he saw.
Senior living center cases
At least eight people at a senior living community near the church have confirmed cases linked to the events as well, Washington said.
Church leaders have not responded to messages from The Observer, and a representative from the senior home wouldn’t comment.
One of the people who died was connected to the cluster at the senior living community, at Madison Saints Paradise Independent Living, Washington said.
Mecklenburg County warnings about the outbreak at the Beatties Ford church mark one of the first times county officials have publicly announced clusters of COVID-19 cases at local events. It is the largest publicly identified outbreak connected to a public gathering in the county.
The county regularly reports clusters of coronavirus cases at congregate living settings and schools or child care facilities. Those settings are required to report clusters to the health department, while businesses and other organizations are not.
Religious gatherings have accounted for a large number of the COVID-19 clusters recorded by the state Department of Health and Human Services.
A list of Mecklenburg COVID-19 testing sites can be found at: https://meck.co/3ka8gLE.
As of Monday, the state agency has reported 76 clusters in religious gatherings resulting in 1,040 COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 6:02 PM.
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