COVID-19 is on track to be the third leading cause of death in Mecklenburg County this year, according to the county’s public health director.
“This is the first time in decades that we’ve had an infectious disease in the top 10 causes of death in this county,” Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris told county commissioners at a meeting Tuesday night.
Harris presented North Carolina’s preliminary death data for the county during the meeting. According to Harris, in the first six months of 2020, overall deaths in Mecklenburg increased by 13% compared to the same time period in 2019. Harris said COVID-19 deaths account for about half of that increase.
“We do believe that a good chunk of that other half could be related to the pandemic,” she said. “Which would include people not going to the emergency room and having episodes that end in death.”
Harris said the increase in overall deaths could also be related to “some of the uptick in homicides” and “increases in some injuries.”
Harris said the numbers could increase in the future, since the death data are preliminary.
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