NC health officials report lowest number of hospitalizations in August

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,472 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, two days after the state reported 2,008 new cases, setting a record for the month of August.

7% of those tests were positive -- after two-day streak of 8% positive tests, the highest rate since July 23.

10 new deaths were reported across the state on Sunday, bringing the state’s coronavirus-related death total to 2,531.

Currently, 898 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with 84% of hospitals reporting. Across the state, 624 intensive care unit beds and 6,173 inpatient beds are currently available.

There have now been 155,113 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina since the state began keeping track.

>> Have questions about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the Carolinas? We have an entire section dedicated to coverage of the outbreak -- CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

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[COUNTY-BY-COUNTY COVID-19 RESOURCE GUIDE]

[CORONAVIRUS IN THE CAROLINAS; HERE’S HOW TO STAY INFORMED]

Note: The numbers we show you every day mean everything in how our community recovers from coronavirus -- both in terms of healthcare and the economy -- but they don’t mean much without the proper context and as much transparency as possible.

New cases vary day by day based on a lot of factors. That can include how long it takes to get results back, so a new case reported today can really be several days old.

The other big metric we watch is the percent of positive cases. This is data we can only get from the state because it’s not as simple as factoring a percent of new cases each day from the number of tests. That’s because test results take days and come from a variety of places.

WHAT ABOUT CLOSER TO HOME?

As of 4 p.m. on August 23, 2020 there were 24,303 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 282 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents. Data from Wednesday, August 19 are presented below. As of August 19, 2020, there were 23,614 cases and 273 deaths due to COVID-19 among county residents reported to Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH).

Highlights about the epidemiology of COVID-19 in Mecklenburg County as of August 19, 2020 include:

• About 3 in 4 reported cases were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.
• About 3 in 10 reported cases are Hispanic – most of whom are younger adults. As previously noted, some factors influencing this trend include:
• Targeted testing occurring in neighborhoods with lower access to care, some of which have larger Hispanic populations;
• Higher proportions of Hispanics working in essential jobs that make social distancing difficult;
• Significant household spread among large families; and
• Pre-existing disparities in other social and economic determinants of health, like poverty.

MCPH continues to expand outreach to Hispanic members of our community, including increased dissemination of the outreach toolkit in Spanish for community partners, setting up targeted outreach to Hispanic owned- and serving-businesses, and partnering with local organizations and media outlets to spread key prevention messages.

• About 1 in 20 reported cases were hospitalized due to their COVID-19 infection. While everyone is at risk for severe COVID-19 complications, reported cases who were older adults (≥ 60 years) were more likely to be hospitalized compared to younger individuals.
• About 3 out of 4 have met CDC criteria to be released from isolation.
• Daily case counts for COVID-19 continue to trend downward. During the past week, an average of 106 laboratory-confirmed infections were reported representing a decrease over the 14-day average of 120 confirmed infections. These data are based on Mecklenburg resident cases reported to MCPH.
• During the past week, an average of 154 individuals with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. Overall this represents a decrease over the last 14 days. These data are based on daily census counts from acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County reporting to MCPH.
• During the past week, an average of 7.0 percent of individuals who were tested in Mecklenburg County were positive for COVID-19. This represents a decrease over the last 14 days. These data only include tests conducted by Atrium Health, Novant Health, CVS Health and Walgreens when available. Reporting of negative results to MCPH is not required or covered by communicable disease reporting laws. MCPH will include results from other providers and laboratories as accurate, consistent and timely reporting mechanisms are established.
• Two hundred-seventy-three deaths due to COVID-19 occurred among reported cases.
• Almost all deaths were among older adults (≥ 60 years), 4 deaths occurred in adults ages 20 to 39 and 37 deaths were adults ages 40 to 59.
• All deaths, except three, occurred among adults with underlying chronic illnesses.
• More than 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 (LTC) facilities actively experiencing an outbreak.
• More than half of deaths were connected to active outbreaks at long-term care (LTC) facilities.
• Among deaths not connected to outbreaks at long-term care facilities, nearly 3 in 4 were non-White, with 40 percent being non-Hispanic Black. As previously noted, these disparities are largely driven by higher rates of underlying chronic conditions that increase risk of severe complications due to COVID-19 infection among these communities
• Based on publicly available mobility tracking data, social distancing slightly increased then slightly decreased in Mecklenburg County over the last 14 days. Overall, this represents a fairly stable trend over the last 14 days.

Cox Media Group