Coronavirus: County pace nearly a third through November better than any month since May

ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County’s active coronavirus cases went down two to 56 in the report released Monday by the Health Department.

The county now counts 1,068 recoveries from the 1,143 people it says have contracted COVID-19. One person is hospitalized and 19 have died.

The case count rose by two on Monday, and now totals 44 through nine reports in November. That pace to reach approximately 147 in November would be a better month than any since 77 cases were recorded in May.

The state Department of Health and Human Services postal ZIP code report lists 354 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 218 in Bladenboro; 142 in East Arcadia; 124 in Clarkton; 75 in White Oak; 66 in Tar Heel; 27 in Kelly; 24 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.

Monday’s totals from the state included:

• 4,615 deaths, up eight from Sunday’s noon report.

• 294,860 cases, up 1,521.

• 1,169 hospitalized, up 22.

• 4,386,435 tests, up 34,500.

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 23 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 320 deaths and 20,881 cases. Cumberland has 105 deaths and 7,784 cases; Robeson has 101 deaths and 6,530 cases; Columbus has 66 deaths and 1,955 cases; Sampson has 31 deaths and 3,061 cases; and Pender has 17 deaths and 1,551 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 2,359 deaths and 31,730 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 229 nursing homes, 124 residential care facilities, 53 correctional institutions and nine other facilities. Of those, seven are in Robeson, six in Cumberland, five in Sampson, four in Pender and three in Columbus.

Robeson and Cumberland each have two clusters; Bladen and Sampson each have one.

With 96 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 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 39.2 percent of the deaths (1,810) and 45.9 percent of the cases (135,355).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 409 deaths and 36,464 positive cases, Gaston County has 145 deaths and 8,356 cases, Rowan County has 121 deaths and 4,565 cases, Cabarrus County has 95 deaths and 5,425 cases, and Union County has 66 deaths and 6,424 cases — a total of 836 deaths and 61,234 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 280 deaths and 23,223 cases, Durham County has 103 deaths and 9,816 cases, Johnston County has 69 deaths and 6,208 cases, and Orange County has 59 deaths and 3,329 cases — a total of 511 deaths and 42,576 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 215 deaths and 13,032 cases, Forsyth County has 129 deaths and 10,050 cases, Randolph County has 71 deaths and 4,293 cases, and Davidson County has 48 deaths and 4,170 cases — a total of 463 deaths and 31,545 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 10 million confirmed cases and 237,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 8.5 million.

There are more than 50.7 million cases worldwide, with more than 1.2 million deaths.