CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The latest COVID-19 data out of Mecklenburg County shows encouraging movement in the right direction. Cases, hospitalizations, and the percent positivity rate are slowly decreasing. But health officials warn there’s still a lot of virus in the community and one trend is especially concerning.
In the last two weeks, 40% of the COVID-19 deaths in Mecklenburg County were in people younger than 60. That's a definite change from earlier in the pandemic.
Health experts say the vaccines are still the best line of defense against COVID-19.
In Mecklenburg County, 60% of the population is partially vaccinated and 56 is fully vaccinated. This week, North Carolina reached a milestone, when 70% of adults became partially vaccinated.
“To be sick and severely ill or in the hospital and die when you don't have to, when we have a tool that can prevent it, it really is unfortunate,” Dr. Raynard Washington, the Mecklenburg County Deputy Health Director told WCNC Charlotte.
He said they have seen it firsthand, the belief many young people have, that they don't need the shots.
“We have more young people of all ages in the hospital, we have more young people on ventilators this surge,” he said. “And it really is concerning for us. It really just underscores the importance of everyone getting vaccinated as quickly as possible."
Of the people under 60 who have died in the last two weeks, the overwhelming majority were unvaccinated, and many had underlying health conditions.
And although trends are moving in the right direction, Washington says it is not the time to ease up but instead to be more vigilant and encourage and educate.
"We are continuing to have one on one conversations," Washington said. "We have our teams out. We have a number of community partners. We are even increasing the number of folks we have available to go out and have one on one conversations, to knock on doors, to sit in barbershops and talk to people. We're continuing those efforts and we will keep going at it."
But they’re hoping more people will help with that because it truly makes an impact coming from someone a person already knows and trusts.
“We need everyone to be having those conversations with their friends, their neighbors, their loved ones, anyone they know," Washington said. "Just ask them hey are you vaccinated? If not, can I answer any questions or can I tell you about my experience?"
The percent positivity rate is about 9% right now, health officials said it would need to be under 5% and stay there for a significant time period before the mask mandate could be lifted.
Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.