ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County remains with one positive case in numbers reported by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services through Monday at 11 a.m.
North Carolina’s death toll rose from six to 33 in a week’s time. There are 2,870 confirmed cases, 270 people hospitalized and all but 11 counties reporting a positive case.
The virus has killed more than 70,000 worldwide, including more than 9,600 in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked people not to gather in large crowds. This weekend, the CDC upgraded their caution by urging everyone to wear “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”
The CDC said its advisory is not a replacement to President Trump’s guidelines.
Drs. Terri Duncan in Elizabethtown and Mandy Cohen in Raleigh have stressed that positive tests are not fully representative of whether COVID-19 is present in a community. Duncan is the county health director, and Cohen is the state cabinet-level secretary for DHHS.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
Symptoms are fever, cough and other lower respiratory illness. This includes shortness of breath. Anyone who believes they may be infected should call their health-care provider, or the call center at the county Health Department.
The call center is open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those numbers are 910-872-6291 and 910-872-6192. The state number to call is 211; it also has available 866-462-3821, and each number is 24/7 with English and Spanish available.
Monday’s report from DHHS also included the first case in Pender County, leaving only Jones, Hyde, Tyrrell and Camden east of Raleigh without a reported positive case. Cumberland’s total grew to 45, Columbus to 12 and Robeson to five. Sampson has three. A bit farther away, New Hanover has 45, Brunswick 26, Hoke 11 and Duplin four.
Of those counties, only Brunswick has reported a death linked to COVID-19.
There’s been little change in age breakdown since the state experienced a surge in cases reported. Ages 25-49 account for 41 percent, 50-64 for 28 percent, 65-and-up for 21 percent, 18-24 for 8 percent, and under 18 for 1 percent. Cases are 51 percent women.
The state still has more than 800 intensive care unit beds and 7,200 overall available, according to 64 percent of the hospitals reporting. There are 1,980 ventilators available in the state.