ELIZABETHTOWN — Active coronavirus cases continue to dwindle in Bladen County, to just above their lowest point since the statistic was introduced in COVID-19’s peak month of June.
Tuesday’s daily report from the county Health Department says 36 cases are active, including two people hospitalized. There have been 1,051 people to recover from the virus in the county of the 1,106 — up two from Monday — counted as contracting it since the first case was in the April 2 report. There have been 19 deaths.
Bladen County’s lowest one-day active total has been 31 on Aug. 21. The county recorded 271 cases in June, the most of any month, and had days of active cases numbering 160 each on June 23 and 25.
It was just last week on Wednesday when Gov. Roy Cooper declared, “Well, there’s evidence of spread over our state, and we’re seeing it concentrated more in rural areas, and we’re seeing it concentrated more in the white population.”
Thirteen days ago, on Sept. 21, Bladen County had 102 active cases.
In the Tuesday evening bi-weekly update by the state Department of Health and Human Services on outbreaks and clusters, there was no change for Emereau: Bladen Charter School. It is still listed with five cses, including two among children. The school announced Tuesday afternoon it would be closing the building and going to remote learning for all students through at least Nov. 11.
The DHHS postal ZIP code report lists 346 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 201 in Bladenboro; 133 in East Arcadia; 118 in Clarkton; 73 in White Oak; 66 in Tar Heel; 25 in Kelly; 23 in Council; and 10 in Dublin.
There are nine fatalities listed for the ZIP in Elizabethtown and White Oak. There have been two each in East Arcadia and Dublin, and one each in Bladenboro, Tar Heel, White Oak and Kelly. The other two are not linked to a ZIP code unique to Bladen County.
Tuesday’s totals from the state included:
• 4,457 deaths, up 67 from Monday’s noon report. The previous two days were up, respectively, seven and five after rising 46 on Saturday. Twenty-four were in congregate living settings. The total only went up three in counties adjacent to Bladen.
• 280,377 cases, up 2,349.
• 1,175 hospitalized, up 29.
• 4,145,714 tests, up 29,695.
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 40 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 24 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 8 percent and 75-or-older has 7 percent. Of the fatalities, ages 75-and-older has made up 59 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 310 deaths and 19,817 cases. Cumberland has 102 deaths and 7,397 cases; Robeson has 97 deaths and 6,258 cases; Columbus has 63 deaths and 1,796 cases; Sampson has 31 deaths and 2,896 cases; and Pender has 17 deaths and 1,470 cases.
Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 2,287 deaths and 30,577 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 212 nursing homes, 114 residential care facilities, 52 correctional institutions and eight other facilities. Of those, seven are in Robeson, six in Cumberland, and four each are in Columbus, Sampson and Pender.
Robeson and Cumberland each have two clusters; Bladen and Sampson each have one.
With 97 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 72 percent of the ventilators, 24 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 28 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 39.5 percent of the deaths (1,764) and 45.9 percent of the cases (128,762).
In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 398 deaths and 35,076 positive cases, Rowan County has 119 deaths and 4,320 cases, Gaston County has 141 deaths and 7,970 cases, Cabarrus County has 95 deaths and 5,153 cases, and Union County has 65 deaths and 6,163 cases — a total of 818 deaths and 58,682 cases.
In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 277 deaths and 22,120 cases, Durham County has 102 deaths and 9,369 cases, Johnston County has 66 deaths and 5,926 cases, and Orange County has 59 deaths and 3,191 cases — a total of 504 deaths and 40,606 cases.
In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 211 deaths and 12,173 cases, Forsyth County has 121 deaths and 9,336 cases, Randolph County has 66 deaths and 4,055 cases, and Davidson County has 44 deaths and 3,910 cases — a total of 442 deaths and 29,474 cases.
According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 9.3 million confirmed cases and 231,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 8.2 million.
There are more than 47.4 million cases worldwide, with more than 1.2 million deaths.
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