Hundreds more COVID-19 cases reported Saturday in Mecklenburg County, 2 more deaths
Mecklenburg County recorded 343 new coronavirus cases Saturday — down 87 cases from Friday’s biggest single-day increase since the county’s first case in March, figures from the state Department of Health and Human Services show.
The county’s total number of cases climbed to 12,576, according to a state update at noon Saturday.
Two more people have died in the county of the disease, according to Saturday’s report, raising the total to 154 people, the state figures show. More than half of those were people connected to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, according to the health department.
Statewide, North Carolina reported fewer new cases of coronavirus Saturday, partly because of less testing the day before, as many people and institutions marked the July 4th holiday, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported.
Friday, Mecklenburg County set a new single-day high for new coronavirus cases — 430 — since the county’s first case, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
That jump mirrored the state as a whole, which set new single-day high totals for COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations Friday, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported.
The 2,099 new lab-confirmed cases reported by the state Department of Health and Human Services topped North Carolina’s previous single-day high of 1,843 on Wednesday.
“We are seeing significant spread of the virus and it is very concerning,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, DHHS secretary, said in a statement Friday. “Today we have the highest reported day of new cases and hospitalizations — and that should be a warning to us all as we go into this holiday weekend. We don’t get a holiday from COVID-19. We all need to wear a face covering, avoid crowds and wash our hands often.”
In Mecklenburg, the daily number of new cases in the county has only increased over the last month. From June 26 to July 3, the average number of new cases reported daily in Mecklenburg was 327. A week earlier, the average was 254.
Key metrics, including hospitalizations and the percent of tests that return positive have also gone up the past two weeks, the Observer previously reported, citing the Mecklenburg County Health Department.
The number is cumulative since mid-March.
North Carolina had 1,413 new cases of coronavirus, the state reported Saturday, down about a third from the record high of 2,099 reported for Thursday. The number of tests completed also fell Friday by about 23%, to 18,234, the N&O reported. More than a million coronavirus tests have now been completed in the state since the pandemic began this winter, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Mecklenburg COVID-19 update
As of June 30 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:
▪ During the past week, an average of 144 people with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in the county — an increase over the past two weeks.
▪An average of 11.2% of people tested positive for COVID-19 the past week, signaling a 14-day “stable trend,” Mecklenburg health officials said. The data include tests only by Atrium Health, Novant Health and CVS.
▪ Most people — about three in four out of the more than 10,300 cases — are 20 to 59 years old.
▪ After symptoms of coronavirus subside, a person diagnosed may be “released” from isolation under federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. In Mecklenburg, more than half the people testing positive have met the criteria to end isolation, according to local health officials.
▪ About 1 in 15 people diagnosed were hospitalized due to their illness. People 60 and older were the most likely to need hospital care.
▪ Most people who have died from COVID-19 locally were connected to “active outbreaks” in long-term care facilities or nursing homes. Still, two of the 151 deaths recorded as of June 30 were among people who had no known underlying conditions. And 18 of the people who died were between the ages of 40 to 59.
This story was originally published July 4, 2020 at 2:28 PM.