Coronavirus: Emereau placed on state’s cluster report

ELIZABETHTOWN — Emereau: Bladen Charter School has been added to the state’s coronavirus cluster report for a second time.

The twice-a-week update by the state Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday noted three cases among staff and two among children. Emereau was previously on the cluster report from Sept. 10 to Oct. 2, with one case among staff and five among children.

Bladen County Schools has closed three schools citing concerns with the virus; neither Dublin Primary, East Arcadia School or Bladenboro Middle is on the cluster report.

In the outbreak report, there were no changes for two Elizabethtown nursing homes.

The county Health Department says there are 95 active cases and Tuesday added nine recoveries, pushing to 936 the total since the pandemic began. Five people remain hospitalized. Eight cases were added, making 1,050 total since the first in April.

The DHHS postal ZIP code report lists 333 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 184 in Bladenboro; 122 in East Arcadia; 106 in Clarkton; 72 in White Oak; 61 in Tar Heel; 23 in Kelly; 21 in Council; and 10 in Dublin.

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

Tuesday’s totals from the state included:

• 3,992 deaths, up 53 from Monday’s noon report.

• 248,750 cases, up 1,578.

• 1,203 hospitalized, up 61.

• 3,663,340 tests, up 23,254.

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 conditions, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.

In Bladen County, the ages 25-49 category has had 41 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 22 percent, 18-24 has 12 percent, 17-and-under has 11 percent, 65-74 has 8 percent and 75-or-older has 5 percent. Of the fatalities, ages 75-and-older has made up 63 percent, 65-74 has 21 percent, 50-64 has 11 percent and 25-49 has 5 percent.

Statewide, the ages 25-49 category has had 40 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 19 percent, 18-24 has 16 percent, 17-and-under has 11 percent, 65-74 has 7 percent and 75-or-older has 6 percent. Of the fatalities, ages 75-and-older has made up 58 percent, 65-74 has 23 percent, 50-64 has 14 percent and 25-49 has 4 percent.

In adjacent counties to Bladen, there have been 273 deaths and 17,618 cases. Cumberland has 91 deaths and 6,594 cases; Robeson has 87 deaths and 5,668 cases; Columbus has 59 deaths and 1,591 cases; Sampson has 28 deaths and 2,563 cases; and Pender has eight deaths and 1,202 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 2,081 deaths and 27,573 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 213 nursing homes, 100 residential care facilities, 47 correctional institutions and four other facilities. Of those, seven are in Cumberland, five in Robeson, four each in Columbus and Pender, three in Sampson, and two in Bladen.

Robeson has two clusters and Bladen one.

With 97 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 73 percent of the ventilators, 21 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 26 percent of all hospital beds.

In the personal protective equipment category, all categories have availability of more than one year.

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 40.9 percent of the deaths (1,631) and 46.5 percent of the cases (115,582).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 376 deaths and 32,038 positive cases, Rowan County has 110 deaths and 3,943 cases, Gaston County has 104 deaths and 6,786 cases, Cabarrus County has 86 deaths and 4,638 cases, and Union County has 62 deaths and 5,654 cases — a total of 738 deaths and 53,059 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 266 deaths and 19,952 cases, Durham County has 98 deaths and 8,631 cases, Johnston County has 60 deaths and 5,206 cases, and Orange County has 58 deaths and 2,967 cases — a total of 482 deaths and 36,756 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 195 deaths and 10,571 cases, Forsyth County has 114 deaths and 8,201 cases, Randolph County has 60 deaths and 3,511 cases, and Davidson County has 42 deaths and 3,484 cases — a total of 411 deaths and 25,767 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 8.2 million confirmed cases and 220,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 7.5 million.

There are more than 40.6 million cases worldwide, with more than 1.1 million deaths.