Rising COVID cases fueled by jumps in nearly every Charlotte ZIP code. Here’s the map.
After months of falling steadily, the rate of coronavirus cases is on the rise in nearly every Mecklenburg County neighborhood.
The reversal of an improving trend comes as health officials say vaccines are successfully slowing hospitalizations and deaths but the positivity rate of COVID-19 testing in Mecklenburg is rising, the Observer has previously reported.
Case rate data by ZIP code shows only the most recent, or active, infections detected by coronavirus testing, and takes into account population to show where cases are most concentrated. Mecklenburg Public Health typically releases ZIP code-level data weekly and the rate is based on a 14-day average.
The latest countywide rate is 282.2 new cases per 100,000 residents, based on positive coronavirus test results from March 18 to March 31. The rate from the first few weeks of March was 210.6, according to county officials. Still, Mecklenburg’s infection rates have improved greatly since a winter surge. Two months ago, the rate was nearly 800 cases per 100,000 residents.
In all but three Mecklenburg ZIP codes, the rate increased in the latter half of March, compared to earlier in the month. The exceptions were ZIP codes 28277 (in and around Ballantyne, near the South Carolina border), 28215 (includes Shannon Park, Hickory Grove and neighborhoods in east Charlotte, close to Interstate 485) and 28206 (Tryon Hills, Druid Hills, and some streets between uptown and NoDa).
ZIP code 28202 (uptown) had the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the county’s most recent data release, with 661.6 cases per 100,000 residents. The next highest was 28204 (Cherry and Elizabeth), 28203 (South End and parts of Dilworth) and 28214 (north of the airport, and to the west, along the Catawba River and the Gaston County line), in that order.
The lowest concentration of new cases in the county is in south Charlotte (including around South Tryon Street and parts of Park Road), and in Matthews.
Uptown-adjacent ZIP codes 28204 and 28203 have consistently had some of the highest concentrations of cases in Mecklenburg and saw some of the county’s largest rate increases in recent weeks.
Residents of ZIP code 28214, 28209 (around Freedom Park and Woodlawn Road) and 28207 (along Providence Road, including and around Queens University) also saw significant increases during the latter half of March.
COVID-19 case rates by ZIP code
This data comes from Mecklenburg County Public Health and includes positive COVID-19 test results, based on a person’s home ZIP code, between March 18 and March 31.
Below 200 cases per 100,000 residents
28217: 183.4
28210: 190.1
28105: 198.3
Between 200-300 cases per 100,000
28211: 211.3
28226: 228.9
28270: 230.0
28277: 239.4
28212: 247.8
28208: 252.1
28215: 266.1
28206: 271.3
28134: 271.5
28078: 272.9
28205: 284.4
Between 300-400 cases per 100,000
28273: 305.4
28269: 313.0
28216: 314.4
28227: 314.8
28262: 317.9
28036: 327.4
28031: 331.9
28278: 347.7
28207: 365.4
28213: 366.1
28209: 380.2
Above 400 cases per 100,000
28214: 408.0
28203: 539.7
28204: 600.3
28202: 661.5
Gavin Off contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
