Coronavirus: County adds 64 cases; on pace for 891 in January

ELIZABETHTOWN — Sixty-four coronavirus cases were added to the total for Bladen County by the state Department of Health and Human Services on Friday.

The county Health Department report said 23 recoveries have been added. Fourteen are hospitalized. Since the pandemic began, there have been 26 deaths, 2,073 cases, and 1,733 recoveries.

The active case total of 314 was another one-day high.

In the last three reports, there have been 130 cases added. For January’s eight reports, there have been 230 — a pace for 891 this month. The 500 reported in December was a new high, topping the 271 from June.

In the DHHS report for outbreaks and clusters, Elizabethtown Health and Rehab remained listed with 11 cases among staff and five among residents. There were no Bladen entries on the cluster report.

The DHHS postal ZIP code report lists 693 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 480 in Bladenboro; 274 in Clarkton; 220 in East Arcadia; 119 in White Oak; 100 in Tar Heel; 55 in Council; 41 in Kelly; and 24 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.

Friday’s totals from the state included:

• 7,328 deaths, up 115 from Thursday’s noon report.

• 602,774 cases, up 10,028.

• 3,960 hospitalized, same as previous day.

• 7,351,909 tests, up 90,469.

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 two are 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 462 deaths and 38,995 cases. Cumberland has 142 deaths and 15,560 cases; Robeson has 141 deaths and 10,866 cases; Columbus has 90 deaths and 4,136 cases; Sampson has 67 deaths and 5,285 cases; and Pender has 22 deaths and 3,148 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 3,463 deaths and 49,934 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 341 nursing homes, 281 residential care facilities, 63 correctional institutions and four other facilities. Of those, 13 each are in Cumberland and Robeson, five in Columbus, four in Pender, three in Sampson, and one in Bladen.

Cumberland has one cluster.

With 97 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 66 percent of the ventilators, 14 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 20 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 38.4 percent of the deaths (2,814) and 45.8 percent of the cases (276,085).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 607 deaths and 69,101 positive cases, Gaston County has 260 deaths and 17,439 cases, Rowan County has 186 deaths and 10,263 cases, Cabarrus County has 162 deaths and 12,637 cases, and Union County has 112 deaths and 14,324 cases — a total of 1,327 deaths and 123,764 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 361 deaths and 49,110 cases, Durham County has 145 deaths and 16,057 cases, Johnston County has 121 deaths and 12,703 cases, and Orange County has 68 deaths and 5,530 cases — a total of 695 deaths and 83,400 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 332 deaths and 27,415 cases, Forsyth County has 234 deaths and 22,527 cases, Randolph County has 138 deaths and 9,048 cases, and Davidson County has 88 deaths and 9,931 cases — a total of 792 deaths and 68,921 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 21.6 million confirmed cases and 366,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 10.4 million.

There have been more than 88.4 million cases worldwide, with more than 1.9 million deaths.