ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County is on a pace to triple the combined total of March, April and May coronavirus cases by the end of the month.
The average is a fractionb elow seven per day in June.
In Friday’s update from the state Department of Health and Human Resources, another dozen pushed the total since the pandemic began to 232. There have been two deaths. The Health Department says there are 76 active cases in the county, including six hospitalized.
In the ZIP code breakdown from DHHS, the cases have been spread as follows: 48 in Elizabethtown and White Lake; 22 in Clarkton; 19 in East Arcadia; 18 in Bladenboro; 15 in White Oak; 14 in Tar Heel; seven in Council; and five each in Dublin and Kelly. The numbers do not match the state’s county total because not all communities are represented. The county has had two deaths, in White Oak and Tar Heel.
In the DHHS update for outbreaks in Bladen County congregate living settings, there were no changes. Sleepy Creek Farms in the Harrells community has 54 cases among staff and Cape Fear Teen Challenge in Elizabethtown has two cases among residents.
It is not known how many workers have been infected at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel, the county’s location of a third outbreak.
North Carolina’s totals released Friday include:
• 1,197 deaths, up 22 from Thursday. Twelve of those were in congregate living settings.
• 49,840 cases, up 1,652.
• 871 hospitalized, up 14.
• 712,313 tests, up 44,891.
The percentage of positive tests returned in the one-day update is 3.7; since the pandemic began, it is a fraction below 7 percent. The rate is selectively biased because most testing has been done for those believing they are sick rather than randomly, and it does not count tests with negative results done by private providers.
The state remains under Gov. Roy Cooper’s safer at home executive order, with a limited number of businesses open in the second phase of reopening the economy. He has set next Friday as the possible beginning for the third phase, and says he’ll give direction for North Carolina’s public schools by July 1.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.
Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 745 deaths and 7,095 positive cases. That’s 62.2 percent of the state’s deaths and 14.2 percent of the cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 106 nursing homes, 60 residential care facilities, 21 correctional institutions and four other facilities. Of those, five each are in Cumberland, Robeson and Columbus, and one is in Sampson.
In adjacent counties, there have been 91 deaths and 3,372 cases. Cumberland has 30 deaths and 965 cases; Robeson has 24 deaths and 1,040 cases; Columbus has 33 deaths and 452 cases; Sampson has four deaths and 835 cases; and Pender has one death and 165 cases.
With 91 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 73 percent of the ventilators, 20 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 20 percent of all hospital beds.
In the personal protective equipment category, no category has less than a 75-day supply — collectively the best numbers since the pandemic began. The benchmark Cooper and health secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen set early on was 30-day.
Cases are split 50 percent women and men, and by race are 55 percent white and 25 percent black. Ages 25-49 account for 45 percent of the cases, and ages 50-and-over 34 percent. Ages 18-24 is 11 percent of the cases, and 17-and-under is 9 percent.
Deaths are 52 percent men and 48 percent women, and by race are 59 percent white and 34 percent black. Under age 50 accounts for 5 percent, and ages 75-and-up is 61 percent.
A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 47.3 percent of the deaths (566) and 52.1 percent of the cases (25,963).
In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 131 deaths and 8,166 positive cases, Rowan County has 38 deaths and 978 cases, Cabarrus County has 25 deaths and 805 cases, Union County has 23 deaths and 852 cases, and Gaston County has nine deaths and 671 cases — a total of 226 deaths and 11,472 cases.
In and near the Triangle area, Durham County has 60 deaths and 2,983 cases, Wake County has 43 deaths and 3,529 cases, Johnston County has 26 deaths and 991 cases, and Orange County has 41 deaths and 506 cases — a total of 170 deaths and 8,009 cases.
In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 105 deaths and 2,281 cases, Forsyth County has 27 deaths and 2,463 cases, Randolph County has 23 deaths and 1,013 cases, and Davidson County has 15 deaths and 725 cases — a total of 170 deaths and 6,482 cases.
According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 2.2 million confirmed cases and 118,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in Brazil, with more than 978,000.
There are more than 8.5 million cases worldwide, with more than 457,000 deaths.