Coronavirus: County has no changes in clusters, outbreaks update

ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County had no changes in Friday evening’s detailed update on coronavirus clusters and outbreaks, and added six cases in the daily report.

The county has one location in Ivanhoe with a cluster, still logging five cases among staff, and one location in Elizabethtown with an outbreak, still with two cases among staff.

The county’s total number of cases since the pandemic began is 640. There have been six deaths, 565 recoveries, and four people are hospitalized. There are 69 active cases — the third straight day at 72 or fewer, which hasn’t happened in two months.

The postal ZIP code report from DHHS lists 174 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 72 in Bladenboro; 57 each in White Oak and Clarkton; 55 in East Arcadia; 45 in Tar Heel; 16 in Kelly; 13 in Council; and seven in Dublin.

The numbers do not match the state’s county total because not all communities are represented. The deaths are credited as one each in Bladenboro, Elizabethtown, Tar Heel and White Oak. The other two are not linked to a ZIP code unique to Bladen County.

Friday’s totals from the state included:

• 2,313 deaths, up 26 from Thursday.

• 142,170 cases, up 1,346.

• 1,049 hospitalized, down 21.

• 1,877,402 tests, up 26,713.

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 adjacent counties to Bladen, there have been 179 deaths and 9,261 cases. Cumberland has 55 deaths and 3,324 cases; Robeson has 56 deaths and 2,952 cases; Columbus has 48 deaths and 961 cases; Sampson has 18 deaths and 1,504 cases; and Pender has three deaths and 676 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 1,196 deaths and 13,674 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 183 nursing homes, 99 residential care facilities, 45 correctional institutions and 12 other facilities. Of those, six are in Cumberland, four in Sampson, and two each in Columbus, Robeson and Pender.

Cumberland also has two clusters.

With 90 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 73 percent of the ventilators, 22 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 25 percent of all hospital beds.

In the personal protective equipment category, gloves are at a 66-day supply and all other categories are at least four months.

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 46.8 percent of the deaths (1,082) and 51.9 percent of the cases (73,739).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 253 deaths and 22,850 positive cases, Rowan County has 50 deaths and 2,316 cases, Cabarrus County has 50 deaths and 2,753 cases, Union County has 43 deaths and 3,276 cases, and Gaston County has 57 deaths and 3,495 cases — a total of 453 deaths and 34,690 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 181 deaths and 12,508 cases, Durham County has 80 deaths and 6,330 cases, Johnston County has 45 deaths and 3,399 cases, and Orange County has 48 deaths and 1,403 cases — a total of 354 deaths and 23,640 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 158 deaths and 5,858 cases, Forsyth County has 56 deaths and 5,477 cases, Randolph County has 39 deaths and 2,225 cases, and Davidson County has 22 deaths and 1,849 cases — a total of 275 deaths and 15,409 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 5.2 million confirmed cases and 166,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in Brazil, with more than 3.2 million.

There are more than 21 million cases worldwide, with more than 761,000 deaths.