Coronavirus: Bladen County records two deaths, the first in two weeks

ELIZABETHTOWN — Two coronavirus fatalities were logged for Bladen County on Thursday.

The state Department of Health and Human Services report also said seven new cases were added. Since the pandemic began, Bladen has had 40 deaths, 2,912 cases and through Wednesday had recorded 2,771 recoveries.

The Health Department, at time of this publishing, had not released an update Thursday.

The deaths are the first since three were logged on Feb. 11. For the month, Bladen has recorded six deaths and 304 cases.

Vaccination series are complete for 9.4 percent of the county and 7.2 percent of the state, the Department of Health and Human Services reported in its daily update. In the county, there have been 3,082 people to get the two-shot vaccination series, and 4,942 have received the first dose. Statewide, there have been 759,254 people to complete the series and 1,292,537 to get the first shot.

The DHHS postal ZIP code report lists 989 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 710 in Bladenboro; 385 in Clarkton; 330 in East Arcadia; 153 in Tar Heel; 150 in White Oak; 79 in Council; and 59 in Kelly.

There are 20 fatalities listed for the ZIP in Elizabethtown and White Lake. There have been eight in Bladenboro; five in East Arcadia; two each in Clarkton, Council and White Oak; and one each in Tar Heel and Kelly. The Dublin ZIP code disappeared from the state report on Jan. 29.

Thursday’s totals from the state included:

• 11,137 deaths, up 63 from Wednesday’s noon report.

• 852,981 cases, up 3,351.

• 1,498 hospitalized, down 32.

• 10,091,588 tests, up 61,411.

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 38 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 22 percent, 18-24 has 11 percent, 17-and-under has 13 percent, 65-74 has 11 percent and 75-or-older has 6 percent. Ages for 22 of 38 deaths are suppressed; six are ages 75-and-older, three are ages 65-74, five are ages 50-64, and two are ages 25-49.

Statewide, the ages 25-49 category has had 39 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 20 percent, 18-24 has 14 percent, 17-and-under has 12 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 13 percent and 25-49 has 3 percent.

In adjacent counties to Bladen, there have been 762 deaths and 56,000 cases. Cumberland has 272 deaths and 23,911 cases; Robeson has 202 deaths and 15,055 cases; Columbus has 141 deaths and 5,770 cases; Sampson has 92 deaths and 6,657 cases; and Pender has 55 deaths and 4,607 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 5,020 deaths and 66,456 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 321 nursing homes, 257 residential care facilities, 87 correctional institutions and four other facilities. Of those, 16 are in Cumberland, 14 in Robeson, six in Columbus, four each in Sampson and Pender, and three in Bladen.

Cumberland has four clusters, and Robeson has one.

With 97 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 74 percent of the ventilators, 21 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 25 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 37.5 percent of the deaths (4,181) and 46 percent of the cases (392,322).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 854 deaths and 95,952 positive cases, Gaston County has 375 deaths and 23,556 cases, Rowan County has 275 deaths and 14,744 cases, Cabarrus County has 233 deaths and 18,331 cases, and Union County has 193 deaths and 20,555 cases — a total of 1,930 deaths and 173,138 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 522 deaths and 73,761 cases, Durham County has 203 deaths and 21,425 cases, Johnston County has 187 deaths and 17,704 cases, and Orange County has 93 deaths and 7,657 cases — a total of 1,005 deaths and 120,547 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 551 deaths and 39,483 cases, Forsyth County has 345 deaths and 31,560 cases, Randolph County has 199 deaths and 13,064 cases, and Davidson County has 151 deaths and 14,530 cases — a total of 1,246 deaths and 98,637 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 28.3 million confirmed cases and 507,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 11 million.

There have been more than 112.8 million cases worldwide, with more than 2.5 million deaths.