COVID infections rocket to new highs in Mecklenburg amid holidays, testing shortages
The spread of COVID-19 reported in Mecklenburg County has rocketed to new highs in the past month, far surpassing records for infections and positive tests set last January.
In fact, the latest record high of new daily cases in Mecklenburg — 3,494 cases on Dec. 28 — is more than double the previous record of 1,461 cases on Jan. 4 of last year, according to state Department of Health and Human Services data.
Mecklenburg surpassed that January 2021 record at least 12 times in late December and the first week of January 2022, according to state data.
On average, one-third of Mecklenburg residents who tested for COVID in the first week of January were positive, according to Mecklenburg County’s latest data release. That’s the highest average for the county’s weekly positivity rate ever — far exceeding the previous all-time positivity rate weekly average high of 16% last January.
The spike in COVID infections comes with unprecedented demand for coronavirus tests across the county, state and country as the omicron variant of the coronavirus rips through the U.S.
The omicron variant is incredibly contagious, according to North Carolina doctors. That’s why cases have been climbing faster than ever before, Atrium Health infectious disease expert Dr. Katie Passaretti told reporters recently.
But omicron appears to cause fewer severe cases of COVID or hospitalizations than the delta variant, Novant Health infectious disease expert Dr. David Priest said.
“That’s the only saving grace right now,” he said. “If omicron put people in the hospital like delta did, the health care system would have collapsed in our country by now.”
COVID hospitalizations increasing in Mecklenburg
But the huge spike in coronavirus infections means hospitalizations are still climbing.
In the first week of January, Mecklenburg County recorded the highest weekly average of people hospitalized with COVID in more than 3 months, according to county data released Friday.
“We’re still pushing the boundaries of what hospitals can handle,” Priest said last week.
Getting vaccinated against the coronavirus — including the new booster doses — is the best way to protect yourself and others and help conserve hospital resources, Priest said.
“There will be no avoiding this virus,” he said. “As it becomes endemic, everyone will eventually have antibodies in their system to it — through either getting infected or getting vaccinated against it.”
Vaccination rates for people 75 and older
In the county’s latest data report released Friday, Mecklenburg reported that for the first time, 100% of residents age 75 and older have gotten at least one dose of the COVID vaccines.
Older adults make up the most fully vaccinated population group in the county.
That’s great news, because older adults, especially people with underlying health conditions, are most susceptible to severe complications of COVID, local doctors have said.
And vaccinations have proved to help protect people from hospitalization and death from COVID. The vast majority of people hospitalized with COVID in the last month have been unvaccinated, Charlotte-area hospitals have reported.
But among the few fully vaccinated people hospitalized with COVID, the average age is 77, Priest said.
And as of Jan. 7 in Mecklenburg, 1,326 county residents have died due to the coronavirus, the county reported.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 1:07 PM.
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