CHARLOTTE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday reported another record-high number of hospitalizations in the state with 1,179.
The previous record was 1,178 on July 16.
On July 17, the state reported 1,180 hospitalizations, however, it has since updated its dashboard to a more automated system which now shows 1,154 hospitalizations on that day.
As NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen has repeatedly said, the region including Charlotte and Mecklenburg County has the highest number of hospitalizations in the state.
1,815 new cases across the state were also reported on Tuesday.
24,087 tests were completed, according to NCDHHS.
People ages 25 to 49 make up 45% of the cases in the state.
>> 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.
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.
NC’s top health official says she’s worried about Charlotte area as people travel from hotspot SC
Gov. Roy Cooper and the Coronavirus Task Force held a news conference Tuesday where North Carolina’s top health official Dr. Mandy Cohen said she’s concerned about the Charlotte area because of people traveling back and forth from South Carolina.
This isn’t the first time Cohen has said she’s worried about the Charlotte area. The first time she mentioned the Queen City was on July 9. During that week, we were averaging 175 people in the hospital. According to the data released Tuesday, we’re now averaging 190 people hospitalized in Mecklenburg County.
Cohen mentioned that people from South Carolina are crossing the border to get their treatment and testing in Charlotte.
South Carolina has struggled to slow the spread across the state. Earlier this month, Gov. McMaster issued an executive order cutting off all alcohol sales at restaurants and bars after 11 p.m
Since our last update we have passed the 100,000 mark of confirmed cases. This is a somber, serious benchmark. We pray for those who've lost loved ones to this virus.
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) July 21, 2020
Mecklenburg County leaders said they are working on a similar rule, which would ban alcohol sales after 10 p.m. The ban would impact Charlotte, Davidson, Matthews, Mint Hill, Pineville and the unincorporated parts of Mecklenburg County. Cornelius and Huntersville are not following it.
Cooper said he supports the alcohol curfew and he encourages local governments to take the necessary steps to protect residents. He said state health officials are working with Mecklenburg County on the decision.
The governor also said that those who refuse to wear masks in public places are “selfish.” He said wearing a mask is not only the best way to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus but is also the best way to help pave the way for economic recovery.
With a reduction in unemployment benefits coming up in a few weeks, Cooper said he has asked the federal government to extend the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which offers an additional $600 a week to unemployed workers who’ve been out of work due to the virus.
For those who continue to defy basic decency and common sense because they refuse to wear a mask — either wear one or don’t go in the store. The refusal to wear a mask is selfish. It infringes on the life and liberty of everyone else in the store.
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) July 21, 2020
What about closer to home?
As of Tuesday morning, there were 17,151 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 182 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents. Data from Sunday, July 19 are presented below.
As of July 19, 2020, there were 16,647 cases of, and 179 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 July 19, 2020 include:
- About 3 in 4 reported cases were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.
- More than a third of reported cases are Hispanic – most of whom are younger adults. The high number of reported cases among young Hispanics over the last several weeks remains a significant concern. 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.
- Roughly half of cases have met CDC criteria to be released from isolation.
- During the past week, an average of 190 individuals with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. Overall this represents a slight increase 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 10.9 percent of individuals who were tested were positive for COVID-19. Overall, this represents a stable trend over the last 14 days. These data only include tests conducted by Atrium Health, Novant Health, and CVS Health 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.
- One hundred-seventy-nine deaths due to COVID-19 occurred among reported cases.
- Almost all deaths were among older adults (≥ 60 years), 3 deaths occurred in adults ages 20 to 39 and 23 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.
- 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 stable trend over the last 14 days.
Channel 9 spoke to AFC Urgent Care in south Charlotte about testing.
They told us the lab they were using was overwhelmed and it was taking up to 12 days to get results back. They switched labs, but also introduced rapid testing.
With rapid testing, you can get the results back in 15 minutes and they can be almost as accurate as a test you have to send off. Tests that get sent to a lab are up to 98% accurate. Rapid tests are up to 96% accurate, but there is one caveat though. For a rapid test to be 96% accurate, you have to have symptoms. Doctors we spoke with warn if you are asymptomatic, rapid testing can lead to false positives or negatives.