Coronavirus: Elizabethtown nursing home linked with 36 cases

ELIZABETHTOWN — An Elizabethtown nursing home now has recorded 23 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus among residents and 13 among staff.

The state Department of Health and Human Services released its second outbreak report of the week Friday evening. In addition to the 36 cases since the pandemic began, there have been two deaths at Bladen East Health and Rehab.

In the cluster report released at the same time, DHHS says Emereau: Bladen Charter School numbers have not changed. There is one staff member and five children listed.

The Bladen County Health Department changed its reporting of the coronavirus on Friday, adding a layer of difference to what is reported by DHHS.

The anaylsis by the county includes antigen testing, and DHHS does not. Hence, in one report Bladen County added 35 lab-confirmed cases to reach 849 since the pandemic began while the state says a net of four cases were removed leaving 810 since the pandemic started.

Across the country, the number of cases in the past week has jumped because of states that now count antigen testing. North Carolina is one of more than 20 states that doesn’t count them, published reports say, and tens of millions of the tests are being implemented nationwide. It is an equation leaving a skewed analysis of the pandemic.

Both county and state reports say there have been 12 deaths. The county lists seven hospitalizations and 775 recoveries. By county metrics, there are 74 active cases.

The postal ZIP code report from DHHS lists 238 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 108 in Bladenboro; 84 in East Arcadia; 75 in Clarkton; 66 in White Oak; 53 in Tar Heel; 19 in Kelly; 16 in Council; and seven in Dublin.

There have been three deaths in the ZIP for Elizabethtown and White Lake, and one each in East Arcadia, Dublin, Bladenboro, Tar Heel, White Oak and Kelly. The other three are not linked to a ZIP code unique to Bladen County.

Friday’s totals from the state included:

• 3,207 deaths, up 27 from Thursday’s noon report. Sixteen were in congregate living settings.

• 191,019 cases, up 1,443.

• 904 hospitalized, up 10.

• 2,749,020 tests, up 34,845.

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 228 deaths and 13,073 cases. Cumberland has 75 deaths and 4,951 cases; Robeson has 71 deaths and 4,204 cases; Columbus has 53 deaths and 1,300 cases; Sampson has 24 deaths and 1,747 cases; and Pender has five deaths and 871 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 1,670 deaths and 20,547 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 204 nursing homes, 89 residential care facilities, 35 correctional institutions and eight other facilities. Of those, eight are in Cumberland, three in Sampson and Columbus, two in Robeson, and one each in Bladen and Pender.

Bladen and Sampson have one cluster each.

With 94 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 70 percent of the ventilators, 24 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 25 percent of all hospital beds.

In the personal protective equipment category, all categories are at more than six months.

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 43.6 percent of the deaths (1,398) and 49.4 percent of the cases (94,393).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 339 deaths and 27,346 positive cases, Gaston County has 75 deaths and 4,782 cases, Rowan County has 86 deaths and 3,136 cases, Cabarrus County has 61 deaths and 3,717 cases, and Union County has 57 deaths and 4,532 cases — a total of 618 deaths and 43,513 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 227 deaths and 16,745 cases, Durham County has 90 deaths and 7,436 cases, Johnston County has 55 deaths and 4,200 cases, and Orange County has 54 deaths and 2,566 cases — a total of 426 deaths and 30,947 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 176 deaths and 7,995 cases, Forsyth County has 94 deaths and 6,747 cases, Randolph County has 50 deaths and 2,638 cases, and Davidson County has 34 deaths and 2,553 cases — a total of 354 deaths and 19,933 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 6.6 million confirmed cases and 198,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 5.2 million.

There are more than 30.2 million cases worldwide, with more than 947,000 deaths.