Coronavirus has now spread to all counties in North Carolina. There had been positive cases reported in 99 of the state’s 100 counties, and then on Monday Avery County reported their county’s first positive case. The rural and mountainous county in the western part of the state has a population of around 18,000 people.
Mecklenburg County Tuesday reported 2,695 COVID-19 cases among county residents and 69 deaths. Almost all deaths were among adults 60 and older, and all deaths occurred among adults with underlying chronic illnesses.
County health officials say about 3 in 4 reported cases are in adults between 20 and 59 years old. More than a third of reported cases are Hispanic, most of whom are younger adults. Officials say the high number of reported cases among young Hispanics over the last several weeks remains a significant concern.
About 1 in 8 reported cases had to be hospitalized due to COVID-19. During the past week, an average of 57 coronavirus patients were hospitalized at Mecklenburg County acute care facilities. The trend is stable over the past 14 days.
Over the past week, 6.3% of those who were tested by Atrium Health and Novant Health were positive for COVID-19, a decrease over the past 14 days. County health officials say based on publicly available mobility tracking data, there has been a decrease in social distancing in Mecklenburg County over the last two weeks. However, social distancing remains significantly higher than before the stay-at-home order became effective on March 26.