COVID-19 Update: 275 Cases Confirmed, 5 Deaths In Davidson

DAVIDSON, NC — The toll of COVID-19 in Davidson rose to at least 275 lab-confirmed cases and five deaths as of Friday, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

The news came as public health officials warned of what initially was thought to be a text scam targeting county residents claiming to have COVID-19 test results, but was later determined to be a "glitch" in the system.

"Public Health does not send out COVID-19 testing results via text message," county officials said, via Twitter. Later in the day, however, officials said, "These texts were sent due to a technical glitch in the software system that has been addressed by the software provider. No personal information was shared or compromised."

As of Friday, at least 26,795 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Mecklenburg County, along with 336 coronavirus-related deaths. The county's positivity rate averaged about 6.1 percent, MCPH said.

According to recent data, about one in 20 reported COVID-19 cases in Mecklenburg County led to hospitalization, and about 80 percent of the county's total number of cases met Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria to be released from isolation.

Overall, hospitalizations in the Charlotte metro remain stable, according to county health officials.

"During the past week, an average of 142 individuals with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. Overall this represents a fairly stable trend over the last 14 days," MCPH said.

The number of known coronavirus cases in North Carolina rose by 1,532 cases Friday, increasing the state's total number of COVID-19 cases to 182,286. The state's COVID-19 death toll rose by 33 Friday, increasing the number of lives lost to COVID-19 in North Carolina to 3,023.

As of Sept. 11, about 5.3 percent of tests in North Carolina were positive, according to DHHS data.

Throughout the state, at least 938 patients were hospitalized for COVID-like symptoms Friday, 10 more than were reported the day before.

Globally, more than 28 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 911,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Friday afternoon. In the United States, more than 6.4 million people have been infected and more than 192,000 people have died from COVID-19.

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