Coronavirus: Leveling off with no cases added Sunday, Bladen counts 251 as active

ELIZABETHTOWN — Three days of four or less, five days of 18 or more.

The roller coaster reporting of coronavirus cases in Bladen County leveled Sunday. No cases were added, 13 recoveries were tacked on, and the Health Department considered 251 people as active cases. Nine are hospitalized.

It was a sharp turn from the previous four days, when 31, 29, 47 and 34 cases were added. Before that, Dec. 27-29 were minus-3, 18 and four.

The pattern fits well with all of December, when nine reports had seven or less cases each and nine reports had 20 or more cases. Overall, cases rose significantly with 500 in the month.

Since the pandemic began, Bladen County has counted 1,924 cases, 1,647 recoveries, and 26 deaths.

The state Department of Health and Human Services postal ZIP code report lists 649 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 429 in Bladenboro; 244 in Clarkton; 209 in East Arcadia; 113 in White Oak; 95 in Tar Heel; 54 in Council; 39 in Kelly; and 23 in Dublin.

There are 10 fatalities listed for the ZIP in Elizabethtown and White Lake. There have been three each in Bladenboro and East Arcadia, two each in Dublin, Clarkton and Council, and one each in Tar Heel, White Oak and Kelly. One is not attached to a ZIP code unique to Bladen County.

Sunday’s totals from the state included:

• 6,910 deaths, up 18 from Saturday’s noon report.

• 564,924 cases, up 6,387.

• 3,576 hospitalized, up 97.

• 7,084,394 tests, up 52,932.

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 39 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 22 percent, 18-24 has 12 percent, 17-and-under has 12 percent, 65-74 has 9 percent and 75-or-older has 6 percent. Ages for 18 of 24 deaths are suppressed; three are ages 75-and-older, two are ages 65-74, and one is ages 25-49.

Statewide, the ages 25-49 category has had 40 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 20 percent, 18-24 has 14 percent, 17-and-under has 10 percent, 65-74 has 8 percent and 75-or-older has 7 percent. Of the fatalities, ages 75-and-older has made up 60 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 445 deaths and 36,445 cases. Cumberland has 140 deaths and 14,430 cases; Robeson has 139 deaths and 10,231 cases; Columbus has 83 deaths and 3,801 cases; Sampson has 61 deaths and 5,057 cases; and Pender has 22 deaths and 2,926 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 3,304 deaths and 47,689 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 333 nursing homes, 257 residential care facilities, 63 correctional institutions and five other facilities. Of those, 13 are in Cumberland, 10 in Robeson, five in Columbus, three each in Sampson and Pender, and one in Bladen.

Cumberland has one cluster.

With 95 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 67 percent of the ventilators, 18 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 27 percent of all hospital beds.

In the personal protective equipment category, all categories are at least four months.

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 38.5 percent of the deaths (2,660) and 45.9 percent of the cases (259,202).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 568 deaths and 65,134 positive cases, Gaston County has 245 deaths and 16,321 cases, Rowan County has 172 deaths and 9,615 cases, Cabarrus County has 151 deaths and 11,763 cases, and Union County has 101 deaths and 13,215 cases — a total of 1,237 deaths and 116,048 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 348 deaths and 45,725 cases, Durham County has 141 deaths and 15,279 cases, Johnston County has 113 deaths and 12,111 cases, and Orange County has 65 deaths and 5,227 cases — a total of 667 deaths and 78,342 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 318 deaths and 25,761 cases, Forsyth County has 225 deaths and 21,367 cases, Randolph County has 127 deaths and 8,484 cases, and Davidson County has 86 deaths and 9,200 cases — a total of 756 deaths and 64,812 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 20.5 million confirmed cases and 351,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 10.3 million.

There have been more than 84.9 million cases worldwide, with more than 1.8 million deaths.