COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations back on the rise in Meck County

CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg County leaders aren’t panicking, but they are making the public aware that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are starting to tick upward.

As of Wednesday, there were 115,518 cases of novel coronavirus with 990 COVID-related deaths reported among Mecklenburg County residents.

According to the county, an average of 92 people a day are testing positive for COVID and the percent of tests coming back positive is averaging a little over 5%.

All of the figures are increases week-to-week but still significantly lower than the county’s peak totals earlier this year, according to county health officials.

Mecklenburg County hit a milestone of 50% of residents in the community being vaccinated, but health officials think the figure is still too low. The unvaccinated population remains at risk, especially with the Delta variant, which is 60% more contagious than the original strain and emerging across North Carolina.

Atrium Health said nearly 99% of its current hospitalizations are unvaccinated. Novant Health told Channel 9 that not only are almost all COVID-19 patients in their system unvaccinated, but they are also the youngest they have seen since the pandemic started.

“All of the data we have is pointing to the fact that if you are unvaccinated you are more likely to be infected, and you are much likely to have severe illness and complications, need for hospitalization and in some cases, death,” Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris said.

Harris said breakthrough cases -- which are when vaccinated people contract COVID-19 -- are still extremely rare and when they happen people are mostly asymptomatic or have really mild symptoms.

When asked about whether or not Mecklenburg County will be reinstating its mask mandate, leaders said cases would have to spike significantly for that to happen.

Harris stressed that if you get vaccinated, masks and COVID in general are less of an issue for you and the community.

The current executive order from Gov. Roy Cooper expires at the end of the month. It currently requires masks in schools and Harris is strongly in favor of extending it.

Right now, kids under 12 can’t get shots. Still, school districts across the state including Rowan-Salisbury and Union have said they will not mandate masks in the classroom this fall.

While Harris favors masks in schools, she said additional restrictions or a wide ranging mask mandate for the public is not needed at this time.

“We will watch that,” she said. “I don’t think we are there yet. I don’t think there is an appetite in our community for that. Unfortunately we are seeing our cases go up and we want to encourage people to get vaccinated, that’s the answer. Nobody wants to put that mask back on.”

Here’s a deeper dive into Mecklenburg County’s COVID-19 data:

• During the past week, an average of 92 laboratory confirmed infections per day were reported compared to the 14-day average of 74 confirmed infections. This represents an increase over the last 14 days.
• During the past week, an average of 49 individuals with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. This represents an increase trend over the last 14 days.
• During the past week, an average of 5.2 percent of individuals who were tested in Mecklenburg County were positive for COVID-19. This represents an increase trend over the last 14 days.
• 990 deaths due to COVID-19 occurred among reported cases.

1. Almost all deaths were among those ages 60 years and older, 15 deaths occurred in adults ages 20 to 39 and 127 deaths were adults ages 40 to 59.
2. All deaths, except twenty-six, occurred among adults with underlying chronic illnesses.
3. Almost half were non-Hispanic Whites. The disparity in COVID-19 deaths among non-Hispanic Whites is related to differences in race/ethnicity of residents of long-term care facilities actively experiencing an outbreak.
4. Nearly 40% of deaths were connected to active outbreaks at long-term care facilities.
5. Among deaths not connected to outbreaks at long-term care facilities, nearly 2 in 3 were non-White, with 40% being non-Hispanic Black.

(WATCH: COVID-19 cases in NC reach 2-month high as delta variant emerges, experts say)

COVID-19 cases in NC reach 2-month high as delta variant emerges, experts say

©2021 Cox Media Group