​Data for September 27

Mecklenburg County, NC – As of this morning there were 28,686 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 357 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents.

Starting on Sept. 25, 2020 NC DHHS began reporting positive antigen cases in the total COVID-19 case counts. Antigen positive cases represent "probable" cases of COVID-19 based on CDC case classification guidelines. The terms "confirmed" and "probable" are used to standardize national case classifications for public health surveillance but should not be used to interpret the utility or validity of any laboratory test type.

Regardless of the test used, a person who tests positive is considered to have COVID-19. MCPH has and will continue to treat and report antigen positive cases the same in terms of our public health response (e.g. complete case investigation, contact tracing, etc.).

Data as of Sept. 27, 2020 are presented in more detail below. MCPH provides these routine updates about reported cases of COVID-19 to help our community better understand how this pandemic is developing in our county. These results only reflect laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 among county residents. Many individuals infected by COVID-19 have not been tested because they are asymptomatic. As such, these results are very fluid and only represent a fraction of the true burden of COVID-19 in our community.

Daily case counts provided by MCPH may differ from state and federal counts due to delays in reporting to the various entities. MCPH updates case counts after an initial case review and, where possible, a patient interview is conducted, which includes confirming county residency. Cases reported after 5 p.m. are counted in the following days case count.

Highlights about the 28,562 COVID-19 cases reported in Mecklenburg County as of Sept. 27, 2020 include:

• About 3 in 4 reported cases were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.
  
  

• About 1 in 4 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.
  
  

• 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 8 out of 10 have met CDC criteria to be released from isolation.
  
  

• During the past week, an average of 101 laboratory confirmed infections were reported compared to the 14-day average of 88 confirmed infections. These data are based on Mecklenburg resident cases reported to MCPH.
  
  

• During the past week, an average of 81 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 5.7 percent of individuals who were tested in Mecklenburg County were positive for COVID-19. Overall, this represents a fairly stable trend over the last 14 days. These data only include tests conducted in Mecklenburg County by Atrium Health, Novant Health, CVS Health, Walgreens Pharmacy and Tryon Medical Partners as 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.
  
  

• Three hundred-fifty-six 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 46 deaths were adults ages 40 to 59.
• All deaths, except five, 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.
  

More data on the epidemiology of COVID-19 in Mecklenburg County as of September 27, 2020:

Daily Percent Positive of Laboratory COVID-19 Tests¹ (as of September 27, 2020)



Select Characteristics of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Reported to MCPH (as of September 27, 2020)


 
Daily COVID-19 Testing³ (as of September 27, 2020)




Distribution of COVID-19 Cases Reported to MCPH by Race/Ethnicity and Age  (as of September 27, 2020)




Total COVID-19 Cases Reported to MCPH Released from Isolation⁴ (as of September 27, 2020)




Daily Hospital Census of Patients with Laboratory Confirmed COVID-19⁵ (as of September 27, 2020)



Daily Social Distancing Index⁶ (as of September 22, 2020)

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Congregate Living Settings with Active COVID-19 Outbreaks (as of September 28, 2020) 

For more details about active and past outbreaks/clusters, including counts of cases and deaths, please access the NC DHHS Outbreaks and Clusters Dashboard.
 
Total Active Outbreaks in Congregate Living Settings: 27
Total Active Clusters in Child Care and School Settings: 2

Distribution of COVID-19 Cases Reported to MCPH by Zip Code of Patient’s Residence (as of September 27, 2020)

COVID-19 Cases (per 100,000 residents) Reported to MCPH by Zip Code of Patient’s Residence (as of September 27, 2020)

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It is important to make sure the information you are getting about COVID-19 is coming directly from reliable sources like MCPH, CDC and NCDHHS. The best resource for information about COVID-19 in Mecklenburg County is the County’s COVID-19 website. Individuals can also call the County’s COVID-19 hotline at 980-314-9400. For more information, please visit the CDC’s website and NCDHHS’ website, which will also include future positive COVID-19 test results in North Carolina.