Mecklenburg’s highest COVID-19 case rate is still in uptown Charlotte. Here’s the map.
Cases continue to increase, but Mecklenburg County’s COVID-19 rates show signs of slowing for the first time in weeks, according to new data from the county health department.
The countywide average is 693.8 new cases per 100,000 residents, based on positive coronavirus test results from Aug. 19 to Sept. 1. That number is slightly up from the previous two weeks’ average rate of 688.3.
Case rates are still some of the highest the county has seen since late January, but some individual ZIP codes show signs of progress.
Recent data show that over the last two weeks, 17 of the 29 Mecklenburg ZIP codes saw increases in case rates and 11 had decreases. One saw no change.
It’s unclear how Labor Day will impact case rates, but historically the county has seen upticks after holiday weekends.
Mecklenburg County’s coronavirus surge is a result of the highly contagious delta variant and the large share of residents still not protected against COVID-19, county health officials say.
As of Thursday morning, just 57% of Mecklenburg residents were at least partially vaccinated, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
The sharp uptick in recent cases alarms hospital leaders. Of the 933 COVID-19 patients at Atrium Health, CaroMont Health and Novant Health as of Thursday, 92% were unvaccinated. And of the 126 patients on life support, 97% were unvaccinated.
Last week, Atrium Health infectious disease expert Dr. Katie Passaretti said while COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations may continue to rise over several weeks due to the delta variant, she hoped numbers would soon start declining.
The case rate data by ZIP code show only the most recent, or active, infections detected by coronavirus testing. Mecklenburg County Public Health typically releases ZIP code-level data weekly, and the rate is based on a 14-day average.
For another week, the county’s highest concentration of COVID case rates by far was in uptown, or ZIP code 28202. The area is reporting a case rate of 1,347.8, or more than one in every 100 residents for the past two weeks.
Other ZIP codes trail behind 28202 by a wide margin. ZIP code 28203 (South End and parts of Dilworth), 28204 (Cherry and Elizabeth) and 28213 (south of University City, including Hidden Valley and neighborhoods along Old Concord Road) continue to post some of the highest case rates in the county. All have logged numbers above 900, which is slightly less than 1% of residents in those areas over two weeks.
The lowest concentration of COVID case rates continues to be in ZIP code 28036, which represents Davidson, but the area also showed one of the highest increases in the county over the past two weeks. It is followed by south Charlotte ZIP codes 28207, in neighborhoods in Eastover along Providence and Randolph roads, and 28210, in neighborhoods along Park Road.
Other big case rate increases, compared to last week, were in ZIP codes 28208 (west Charlotte, including Enderly Park and neighborhoods along West Boulevard) and 28134 (Pineville, near the South Carolina border).
ZIP codes 28204, 28211 (south Charlotte along Providence Road, including Cotswold and parts of Myers Park) and 28209 (south Charlotte along Woodlawn and Park Roads) saw the biggest drops — though all of their case rates decreased by less than 100 points.
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 Aug. 19 and Sept. 1.
Below 550 cases per 100,000 residents:
- 28036: 442.2
- 28207: 501.1
- 28210: 510.9
- 28270: 522.7
- 28211: 526.7
- 28277: 528.5
- 28226: 533.1
- 28217: 543.3
Case rates between 550-700:
28105: 577.4
28273: 589.6
28212: 629.5
28209: 639.6
28205: 682.0
Between 700-900:
28269: 769.5
28206: 781.0
28134: 787.3
28227: 822.9
28278: 851.4
28262: 853.8
28216: 865.1
28214: 868.6
28215: 870.4
Above 900:
28208: 910.3
28078: 912.0
28031: 918.3
28213: 932.5
28204: 940.9
28203: 951.2
28202: 1,347.8
Alison Kuznitz and Gavin Off contributed to this report.
