Coronavirus: State percentage about to pass Bladen County

ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County, forever ahead of the state average for fully vaccinated people, is about to fall behind.

Coronavirus vaccination series are complete for 18.7 percent of the county and 18.6 percent of the state, the state Department of Health and Human Services says. In the county, there are 6,128 people fully vaccinated, and 8,192 partially vaccinated. Statewide, there are 1,950,289 people fully vaccinated and 2,661,458 partially vaccinated.

In Thursday’s daily update, four cases and three recoveries were added in Bladen County. There is one person hospitalized among 49 cases considered active, the county Health Department said in its report.

Since the pandemic began, Bladen has had 41 deaths, 3,124 cases and 3,034 recoveries.

The DHHS postal ZIP code report lists 1,051 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 754 in Bladenboro; 413 in Clarkton; 338 in East Arcadia; 166 in White Oak; 160 in Tar Heel; 86 in Council; and 61 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; four in Clarkton; two each in 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:

• 12,224 deaths, up 12 from Wednesday’s noon report.

• 926,897 cases, up 2,087.

• 1,004 hospitalized, down 21.

• 11,598,519 tests, up 40,256.

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 12 percent, 17-and-under has 13 percent, 65-74 has 11 percent and 75-or-older has 5 percent. Ages for 22 of 41 deaths are suppressed; six are ages 75-and-older, six 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 6 percent. Of the fatalities, ages 75-and-older has made up 59 percent, 65-74 has 24 percent, 50-64 has 14 percent and 25-49 has 3 percent.

In adjacent counties to Bladen, there have been 840 deaths and 60,816 cases. Cumberland has 292 deaths and 26,270 cases; Robeson has 226 deaths and 15,796 cases; Columbus has 149 deaths and 6,153 cases; Sampson has 104 deaths and 7,500 cases; and Pender has 69 deaths and 5,097 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 5,404 deaths and 70,691 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 150 nursing homes, 82 residential care facilities, 60 correctional institutions and three other facilities. Of those, 10 are in Cumberland, seven in Robeson, five in Pender, two in Sampson, and one each in Bladen and Columbus.

Robeson has four clusters, and two in Cumberland.

With 96 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 73 percent of the ventilators, 25 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 25 percent of all hospital beds.

In the personal protective equipment category, medical KN95 respirators have 59 days supply. All other categories are at least four months.

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 38.2 percent of the deaths (4,672) and 46.3 percent of the cases (429,099).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 916 deaths and 104,510 positive cases, Gaston County has 402 deaths and 25,130 cases, Rowan County has 299 deaths and 15,895 cases, Cabarrus County has 247 deaths and 20,150 cases, and Union County has 211 deaths and 22,703 cases — a total of 2,075 deaths and 188,388 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 693 deaths and 81,894 cases, Durham County has 215 deaths and 23,577 cases, Johnston County has 206 deaths and 19,680 cases, and Orange County has 101 deaths and 8,172 cases — a total of 1,215 deaths and 133,323 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 622 deaths and 43,703 cases, Forsyth County has 363 deaths and 33,723 cases, Randolph County has 217 deaths and 14,401 cases, and Davidson County has 180 deaths and 15,561 cases — a total of 1,382 deaths and 107,388 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 30.9 million confirmed cases and 560,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in Brazil, with more than 13.2 million.

There have been more than 133.7 million cases worldwide, with more than 2.8 million deaths.