ELIZABETHTOWN — State deaths attributed to the coronavirus have topped 700 and cases in Bladen County have climbed past 80.
Wednesday’s report from the Department of Health and Human Services says 702 North Carolinians have lost their lives to the worldwide pandemic. There are 20,122 cases confirmed from 277,603 tests, with 554 people hospitalized.
The death toll is up 11 today, the number of cases up 422 — its smallest jump in the last six days.
Bladen County has two deaths and 81 cases, the latter up three. In the DHHS postal breakdown, the ZIP code for Elizabethtown and White Lake has 21 positive cases. There have been 10 in Tar Heel, nine in White Oak, seven in Bladenboro, six in Clarkton, six in Council, three in East Arcadia, and one in Kelly. The numbers do not match the state’s county total because not all communities are represented.
The county Health Department says there have been 53 recoveries. There have been 58 new cases reported this month, at least one in 29 of the last 31 days, and at least two in eight of the last 10 days. The county’s first case was reported April 1, and its second April 18.
Seven deaths were added in congregate living settings, pushing the total to 446. Those living places account for 4,495 cases. Outbreaks have been identified at 77 nursing homes, 33 residential care facilities, 18 correctional institutions and seven other facilities. Of those, five are in Columbus, four in Robeson, three in Cumberland, and one in Pender.
The state defines an outbreak as two or more.
In adjacent counties, there have been 42 deaths and 1,673 cases. Cumberland has 13 deaths and 506 cases; Columbus has 21 deaths and 253 cases; Robeson has six deaths and 591 cases; Sampson has one death and 273 cases; and Pender has one death and 50 cases.
A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 333 deaths and 9,732 cases, or 47.4 percent of the deaths and 48.4 percent of the cases.
In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 67 deaths and 2,780 positive cases, Rowan County has 25 deaths and 562 cases, Cabarrus County has 21 deaths and 395 cases, Union County has 16 deaths and 364 cases, and Gaston County has six deaths and 210 cases — a total of 135 deaths and 4,311 cases.
In and near the Triangle area, Durham County has 41 deaths and 1,084 cases, Wake County has 30 deaths and 1,307 cases, Orange County has 37 deaths and 289 cases, and Johnston County has 17 deaths and 276 cases — a total of 125 deaths and 2,956 cases.
In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 49 deaths and 916 cases, Davidson County has 11 deaths and 314 cases, Forsyth County has seven deaths and 749 cases, and Randolph County has six deaths and 486 cases — a total of 73 deaths and 2,465 cases.
Of the state’s total cases, 43 percent are ages 25-49 and 44 percent are ages 50 and over. Those 50 and up account for 96 percent of the deaths.
Fifty-one percent of the cases statewide are women. Men account for 51 percent of the deaths.
Bladen County is one of 17 that has a meat-processing plant with an outbreak. In a published report Friday attributing the source to DHHS, there were 1,675 workers at 26 plants who have tested positive for COVID-19. The report, citing county health departments and admitting the number is likely low, said there were 49 new cases last week attributed to workers at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel, pushing the total of infections there to at least 125.
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