MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Wednesday, Mecklenburg County commissioners got an update on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Charlotteans and North Carolinians.
While the numbers seem to be improving right now, there are still a lot of other concerns from this pandemic and its impact on the community.
At the commissioners' meeting, problems like unemployment, food insecurity, mental health were all on the table — as well as discussions on how to move forward.
“Are certain people going to be perpetually relegated into the same space generation to generation? This is what this is telling us," Mecklenburg County Commissioner Mark Jerrell said when discussing the racial and ethnic disparities in the pandemic's impact.
Additionally, commissioners discussed the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on mental health. As presented at the meeting, the toll that stress and worry have taken on mental health has disproportionately impacted essential workers.
"We can't tackle a problem and get people on board if people don't know about it," County Commissioner Pat Cotham said.
Commissioners pointed to the fact that some of these issues discussed were ongoing long before the pandemic, though the pandemic may have revealed them or made them worse.
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