Coronavirus: Case count eclipses 10 million around the world

ELIZABETHTOWN — The coronavirus has moved past the 10 million case mark worldwide, the tracker provided by Johns Hopkins University says, and is nearing half a million deaths.

More than 2.5 million confirmed cases and 125,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in Brazil, with more than 1.3 million.

For context, the worldwide population is estimated at nearly 7.8 billion, and the U.S. population is estimated at 331 million. That means the percentage of those infected worldwide is one-tenth of 1 percent, and in the U.S. is seven-tenths of 1 percent. In North Carolina, where population is an estimated 10.5 million, the infection rate is just shy of six-tenths of 1 percent.

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.

In the state Department of Health and Human Services report Sunday, Bladen County added eight cases to reach 357. There have been three deaths. Through Friday’s report from the county Health Department, there were 183 recovered, five hospitalized and 158 active cases; the county didn’t issue a report Saturday and was yet to Sunday at time of publication.

The postal ZIP code report from DHHS includes 90 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake; 27 each in White Oak and East Arcadia; 25 in Clarkton; 20 each in Bladenboro and Tar Heel; seven in Council; six in Kelly; and four in Dublin. The numbers do not match the state’s county total because not all communities are represented. Only two of the deaths are represented, those in Tar Heel and White Oak.

There are three outbreaks at congregate living settings in the county, and another at Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel.

North Carolina’s totals released Sunday include:

• 1,322 deaths, up four from Saturday. There were none added from congregate living settings.

• 62,142 cases, up 1,605.

• 890 hospitalized, up two.

• 855,131 tests, up 16,774.

Bladen is one of 44 counties with 350 or more cases since the pandemic began. The others are Alamance (1,088), Brunswick (479), Buncombe (547), Burke (1,016), Cabarrus (1,064), Caldwell (398), Catawba (720), Chatham (936), Columbus (513), Craven (354), Cumberland (1,142), Davidson (925), Duplin (1,438), Durham (3,571), Forsyth (2,935), Gaston (1,004), Granville (786), Guilford (2,743), Harnett (615), Henderson (569), Hoke (357), Iredell (731), Johnston (1,393), Lee (798), Lenoir (363), Mecklenburg (10,592), Moore (439), Nash (437), New Hanover (810), Orange (635), Pitt (660), Randolph (1,149), Robeson (1,175), Rowan (1,163), Sampson (1,018), Stanly (359), Surry (451), Union (1,151), Vance (499), Wake (4,816), Wayne (1,767), Wilkes (570) and Wilson (682).

In adjacent counties, there have been 123 deaths and 4,083 cases. Cumberland has 41 deaths and 1,142 cases; Robeson has 38 deaths and 1,175 cases; Columbus has 37 deaths and 513 cases; Sampson has six deaths and 1,018 cases; and Pender has one death and 235 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 795 deaths and 7,603 positive cases. That’s 60.1 percent of the state’s deaths and 12.2 percent of the cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 115 nursing homes, 63 residential care facilities, 19 correctional institutions and seven other facilities. Of those, five each are in Cumberland and Robeson, four in Columbus, and three are in Sampson. There is also one cluster in Cumberland County.

With 78 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 74 percent of the ventilators, 25 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 25 percent of all hospital beds.

In the personal protective equipment category, no category has less than a 109-day supply.

Among the cases statewide, ages 18-24 is 12 percent of the state’s total and 10 percent is 17-and-under. Deaths continue to be mostly among the elderly, with 60 percent being among those 75-and-over, and 20 percent among those ages 65 to 74.

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 46.3 percent of the deaths (612) and 53.3 percent of the cases (33,141).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 146 deaths and 10,592 positive cases, Rowan County has 39 deaths and 1,163 cases, Cabarrus County has 27 deaths and 1,064 cases, Union County has 23 deaths and 1,151 cases, and Gaston County has 11 deaths and 1,004 cases — a total of 246 deaths and 14,974 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Durham County has 61 deaths and 3,571 cases, Wake County has 46 deaths and 4,816 cases, Johnston County has 29 deaths and 1,393 cases, and Orange County has 41 deaths and 635 cases — a total of 177 deaths and 10,415 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 111 deaths and 2,743 cases, Forsyth County has 34 deaths and 2,935 cases, Randolph County has 29 deaths and 1,149 cases, and Davidson County has 15 deaths and 925 cases — a total of 189 deaths and 7,752 cases.