Mecklenburg reports deadliest week so far during pandemic

This week saw Mecklenburg’s health director issue a dire plea for people to voluntarily stay home as hospitals take in record-high numbers of COVID-19 patients and leaders rush to vaccinate more people.

The latest figures from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services show the 14-day average of new cases in Mecklenburg County was 852 on Friday (up from around 600 this time last month).

On Friday, DHHS reported 791 new cases in Mecklenburg County. A total of 675 people have died, according to the county health department late Thursday. This past week alone, 69 fatalities were recorded — the deadliest week ever for the county since the start of the pandemic.

In tracking public health data during the pandemic, health experts point out that deaths are considered a lagging indicator of the severity of the virus circulating in a community. Harvard University researchers, for example, explained in July that a person who succumbs to the virus most often died “two to eight weeks after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.”

For some of those residents who have died in the last week in Mecklenburg, they were likely exposed as far back as Thanksgiving and others were possibly infected at Christmas.

The number of deaths among Charlotte-area residents of color continues to be disproportionately high. Of those deaths not related to long-term care facilities, 3 in 4 were people of color — with majority of those among Black residents.

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A second surge of coronavirus cases has yet to substantially slow in Charlotte and surrounding areas although the weekly positivity rate dropped slightly, according to data released Friday from Mecklenburg health officials.

County health Director Gibbie Harris announced a new directive at this week’s board of county commissioners meeting that encourages residents to stay home and participate in “full virtual” activities where possible. The directive, in effect through at least Feb. 2, is not mandatory.

In response, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools decided at an emergency board meeting Thursday to stay in remote learning through at least Feb. 12, scrapping its former plan to bring students back to classrooms on a rotational basis next week. District leaders say they will reevaluate plans for remote learning depending on community spread of the virus, and will bring recommendations to the board at its Feb. 9 meeting.

Additionally, the state expanded its COVID-19 vaccine access this week to include anyone age 65 and older, despite a limited supply of vaccine doses and appointments. Though more appointments will open as more doses arrive in the county, officials said this week most Charlotteans will have to wait months to get their their first shots.

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Mecklenburg COVID-19 update

As of January 13 — the last date demographic data was publicly available — county coronavirus data show:

▪ During the past week, an average of 530 individuals with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. That’s an increase over the last two weeks, the health department says.

Hospitalizations more than doubled between November and December, data show. The Charlotte Observer previously reported that at the end of 2020, around 90% of intensive care unit beds in local hospitals were occupied. At the time, leaders with both Atrium Health and Novant Health said they were concerned about rising infection rates in Charlotte and the surrounding area but had more capacity in hospitals.

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▪An average of 13.8% of individuals who were tested were positive for COVID-19 during the past week. Mecklenburg County Public Health says this represents a decrease over the last 14 days.

Harris has said she’s greatly concerned about the elevated positivity rate, which had fallen to as low as 5% in September but a second surge of cases — jolted by travel and social gatherings around recent holidays — has pushed the percent of positive tests to record-high levels. Last week’s average positivity rate was around 16%.

▪ The largest age group of people diagnosed — about 43% of nearly 74,000 cumulative cases — were adults under the age of 40. People older than 60 account for less than 14% of all cases reported but more than three-fourths of all deaths.

▪ After symptoms of coronavirus subside, a person diagnosed may be “released” from isolation under CDC guidelines. In Mecklenburg, roughly 80% people who tested positive have met the criteria to end isolation, according to local health officials.

▪ About 1 in 20 people diagnosed were hospitalized due to their illness. People age 60 or older were more likely to need hospital care compared to younger people with coronavirus.

▪ About half of those people who have died from COVID-19 locally were connected to “active outbreaks” in long-term care facilities or nursing homes. Still, 16 of the 665 deaths recorded as of Jan. 13 were among people who had no known underlying conditions.

Eighty of the people who died were between the ages of 40 to 59, and 11 people were adults under the age of 40.

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