Using John Hopkins data, Cornelius Today compiled a chart of North Carolina’s new confirmed COVID-19 cases from Aug. 8 through Sept. 7. The state’s median number of new cases since Aug. 8 is 1,345 and the state’s median over the past 7 days is 1,562.

Sept. 8. By Dave Yochum. The median number of new coronavirus cases statewide during the past seven days is running 16 percent ahead of the past month based on North Carolina data from Johns Hopkins University.

New cases are just one way to track the spread of the virus. Testing is the start of the COVID-19 data flow, followed by new cases, then hospitalizations and deaths. Today’s report from the NC Dept. of Health & Human Services says positive tests statewide are at 6.2 percent, down from 8.4 percent in late August, and 7.6 percent mid-week last week.

NCDHHS reported 716 new daily cases Tuesday, down from 1,018 new cases on Labor Day, and well below the 2,111 new cases reported exactly a week ago. Over the past month, the median daily number of new cases is 1,345; over the past week, 1,415.

On Aug. 10, the NCDHHS reported fewer than 500 new cases.

—Total number of people hospitalized: At least 827, but the NCDHHS says “continued technical and submissions issues with hospital systems data, which have been exacerbated by the holiday weekend,” resulted in incomplete hospitalization data.

—The number of new deaths statewide in today’s NCDHHS report was 12, down from 50 on Saturday—and 39 on Tuesday last week—for a cumulative total of 2,909 since the outbreak began here in March.

—Total tests in North Carolina are approaching 2.5 million.

Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg now accounts for 9.1 percent of the state’s new confirmed cases per day, down from 10 percent in recent weeks. (See chart below)

The median number of daily new cases over the past week is just 1.3 percent below the median number of new cases per day during the past month, or 144 vs. 147.

NCDHHS today reported only 12 new cases in Mecklenburg for a total of 26,313 since the outbreak began.

North Meck

—Cornelius: 0 new cases, total 473. 16 deaths total, none new in more than a month

—Davidson: 0 new cases, total 269. 5 deaths total, none new in more than a month

—Huntersville: 4 new cases, 852 total. 11 deaths total, 1 new Aug. 26

Over the past 7 days, Mecklenburg has shared an average of 9.1 percent of the state’s new confirmed cases per day