Aug. 26. The NC Dept. of Health & Human Services is reporting another day of coronavirus trends going in the wrong direction.

New cases rose to 8,620 statewide, the highest since early February.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 statewide are at 3,552, roughly nine times higher than early July.

Masks, politics and Huntersville

There were 60 new COVID-19 deaths statewide, including one in Huntersville where 299 new cases have been reported in the past week.

Mayor Aneralla

Meanwhile, Huntersville Mayor John Aneralla, a Republican, is asking Mecklenburg County Chair George Dunlap, a Democrat, to justify the legality of the county’s indoor mask mandate. In a letter dated today, Aneralla asked for information on how county commissioners came to their decision.

The county-wide mask mandate goes into effect Aug. 31.

Testing

Positive tests are at 13 percent statewide.

Mecklenburg

In Mecklenburg County, there were 729 new cases from Wednesday to today, and five new COVID-related deaths, for a total of 24 in the past week. The county-wide positive test rate is 13.2 percent.

North Mecklenburg (change from Wednesday)

Cornelius: 29 new cases, 3,394 cumulative total, 26 deaths total.

Davidson: 18 new cases, 1,978 cumulative total, 15 deaths total.

Huntersville: 48 new cases, 7,304 cumulative total, 58 deaths total.