Coronavirus: Bladen County listing 260 cases as active

ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County added 16 recoveries and 13 cases in the daily coronavirus report, the Health Department says.

Nine people are hospitalized and 260 cases are considered active. Since the pandemic began, there have been 26 deaths, 1,937 cases, and 1,651 recoveries.

The county remains in the red alert stage, which was last updated Dec. 22. That is the most severe and includes 64 other counties.

The state Department of Health and Human Services postal ZIP code report lists 655 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 431 in Bladenboro; 249 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.

Monday’s totals from the state included:

• 6,941 deaths, up 31 from Sunday’s noon report.

• 570,111 cases, up 5,187.

• 3,635 hospitalized, up 59.

• 7,119,201 tests, up 34,807.

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 17 of 26 deaths are suppressed; three are ages 75-and-older, two are ages 65-74, two are ages 50-64, 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 447 deaths and 36,739 cases. Cumberland has 140 deaths and 14,573 cases; Robeson has 139 deaths and 10,310 cases; Columbus has 85 deaths and 3,814 cases; Sampson has 61 deaths and 5,080 cases; and Pender has 22 deaths and 2,962 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 3,314 deaths and 47,867 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 96 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 66 percent of the ventilators, 17 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 26 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 38.6 percent of the deaths (2,676) and 45.9 percent of the cases (261,872).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 577 deaths and 65,809 positive cases, Gaston County has 245 deaths and 16,491 cases, Rowan County has 172 deaths and 9,747 cases, Cabarrus County has 151 deaths and 11,903 cases, and Union County has 102 deaths and 13,382 cases — a total of 1,247 deaths and 117,332 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 348 deaths and 46,288 cases, Durham County has 141 deaths and 15,371 cases, Johnston County has 113 deaths and 12,179 cases, and Orange County has 65 deaths and 5,272 cases — a total of 667 deaths and 79,110 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 318 deaths and 26,026 cases, Forsyth County has 231 deaths and 21,527 cases, Randolph County has 127 deaths and 8,555 cases, and Davidson County has 86 deaths and 9,322 cases — a total of 762 deaths and 65,430 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 20.7 million confirmed cases and 352,000 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 85.5 million cases worldwide, with more than 1.8 million deaths.