Charlotte inches toward a return to ‘normal’ on the COVID-19 front
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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
Mecklenburg County is preparing to loosen its indoor mask mandate. COVID-19 case counts are declining. Demand for tests is waning. Customers are eating indoors. And some big employers are calling employees back to their cubicles.
These recent shifts beg the question: Are we returning to some semblance of “normal?”
What’s happening: Last week, Mecklenburg County health director Dr. Raynard Washington said if trends keep improving, he’ll recommend a repeal of the countywide mask mandate at this Wednesday’s meeting of the board of county commissioners.
- “We are feeling a lot better about where we are, and certainly encouraged that the numbers continue to decline pretty aggressively,” Washington told commissioners.
By the numbers: Washington says local COVID trends have improved significantly since the Omicron peak this winter:
- Case counts have declined about 65%.
- The percent positivity is down about 45%.
- Hospitalizations are down by about 30%.
Testing demand has plunged, too. StarMed administered about 6,000 tests across the state last week, down from 10,000 the previous week.
- For comparison’s sake, the week of Jan. 9, around the peak of the Omicron variant, StarMed tested 50,000 people, CEO Mike Estramonte tells Axios.
- Over half the total tests StarMed administers are in Mecklenburg County, per Estramonte.
Chart: Axios Visuals, Data: StarMed
“Things feel like they’ve calmed down,” Estramonte says. “(But) we still have a high positivity rate among the people we test.”
The week of Feb. 8 to Feb. 13, 17% of the tests StarMed administered came back positive. That’s far above the 5% target positivity rate local health officials say they’d like to see, but better than the 25-30% rates of early January.
Zoom out: Across the country, cities, counties and states are loosening COVID-19 restrictions. That’s especially true among urban and Democratic areas that’ve held tighter to pandemic restrictions.
- Starting in early March, for instance, New Jersey will no longer require students and school staff to wear masks, as Axios’ Jacob Knutson reported.
- “We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus,” N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy said.
Some recent polling shows that as many as 70% of Americans believe it’s “time to accept that COVID is here to stay and that we need to get on with our lives.”
Yes, but: Although trends are improving, hospitals are still treating large numbers of COVID patients.
- Last week, the N.C. National Guard deployed soldiers and airmen to Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington to support staff and hospital operations handle the Omicron surge.
- As of Monday, there was still a federal team supporting operations at Atrium Health Pineville, too.
“Although COVID cases and hospitalizations have decreased and are trending down, we are still seeing high levels of positivity in the community, and hospitals are still very full with those still suffering from COVID-19 or the effects of the virus,” a statement to Axios from Atrium Health read.
- Those who are at higher risk should continue masking, the hospital system added. And everyone who hasn’t done so ought to get vaccinated and boosted.
What’s more, Pfizer recently said it is delaying its application for vaccines for children between the ages of six months and four years old. The move has left countless parents nationwide frustrated, especially as pandemic safety measures are lifted.
- Last week, the Charlotte Mecklenburg School board voted to renew its mask mandate, as WFAE reported. But the board said it’ll consider lifting the mandate following the county decision.
Of note: Health-care settings like Atrium hospitals will still require masks, per the hospital.
Businesses can also require masks even if the county lifts its mandate, as the Observer reported last week.
- They’re considered private property and can require face coverings just like they require customers to wear pants.
Some businesses that currently require masks say they’ll wait to hear about the county’s decision before adjusting their own protocols. “Once we hear what their plans are, we will adjust our plans accordingly,” Blumenthal Performing Arts CEO Tom Gabbard told the Observer.