Coronavirus: Two dozen cases logged in Bladen County

ELIZABETHTOWN — Two dozen coronavirus cases were added to Bladen County’s total in Friday’s state report.

The influx was coupled with 26 recoveries added for the county, pushing to 1,235 the total since the pandemic began. There are 159 active cases, including seven people hospitalized.

The total cases since the pandemic began is 1,414.

The number of deaths remains at 20, and outbreaks and clusters stayed at one each in the evening bi-weekly report from the Department of Health and Human Servcies.

For outbreaks, one staff member and two residents at Elizabethtown Health and Rehab are listed. For clusters, Emereau: Bladen Charter Schools remains listed with three staff and two children. The school has not been in session since Nov. 24.

The state defines an outbreak as two or more in a congregate living setting. A cluster is five or more in a child care of school setting.

The DHHS postal ZIP code report lists 461 cases in Elizabethtown and White Lake since the pandemic began; 289 in Bladenboro; 162 in East Arcadia; 149 in Clarkton; 84 in White Oak; 80 in Tar Heel; 31 in Kelly; 30 in Council; and 15 in Dublin.

There are nine fatalities listed for the ZIP in Elizabethtown and White Oak. There have been three in East Arcadia, two in Dublin, and one each in Tar Heel, Bladenboro, Clarkton, Council, White Oak and Kelly.

Friday’s totals from the state included:

• 5,467 deaths, up 57 from Thursday’s noon report.

• 382,534 cases, up 5,303.

• 2,157 hospitalized, up 56.

• 5,461,220 tests, up 51,786.

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 40 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 23 percent, 18-24 has 12 percent, 17-and-under has 11 percent, 65-74 has 9 percent and 75-or-older has 5 percent. Only 19 of the 20 deaths are in the data, and the age breakdown on 16 of them is now suppressed by the state; previously, it was reported as ages 75-and-older has 63 percent, 65-74 has 21 percent, 50-64 has 11 percent and 25-49 has 5 percent.

Statewide, the ages 25-49 category has had 40 percent of the cases, 50-64 has 20 percent, 18-24 has 15 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 59 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 371 deaths and 26,139 cases. Cumberland has 119 deaths and 9,916 cases; Robeson has 114 deaths and 7,607 cases; Columbus has 73 deaths and 2,833 cases; Sampson has 48 deaths and 3,817 cases; and Pender has 17 deaths and 1,966 cases.

Congregate living settings in North Carolina have totaled 2,739 deaths and 37,257 positive cases. Outbreaks have been identified and are active at 256 nursing homes, 149 residential care facilities, 46 correctional institutions and seven other facilities. Of those, eight are in Robeson, four in Cumberland, three each in Sampson and Columbus, two in Pender, and one in Bladen.

Cumberland has two clusters, and Bladen, Sampson and Columbus each have one.

With 97 percent of the state’s hospitals reporting, DHHS says there is availability of 71 percent of the ventilators, 17 percent of the intensive care unit beds and 23 percent of all hospital beds.

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

A combined 13 metropolitan counties have the state’s three largest cities and account for 38.6 percent of the deaths (2,110) and 45.9 percent of the cases (175,590).

In the Charlotte area, Mecklenburg County has 465 deaths and 45,627 positive cases, Gaston County has 188 deaths and 10,809 cases, Rowan County has 136 deaths and 6,093 cases, Cabarrus County has 109 deaths and 7,409 cases, and Union County has 76 deaths and 8,376 cases — a total of 974 deaths and 78,314 cases.

In and near the Triangle area, Wake County has 299 deaths and 30,295 cases, Durham County has 123 deaths and 11,686 cases, Johnston County has 78 deaths and 8,060 cases, and Orange County has 62 deaths and 4,045 cases — a total of 562 deaths and 54,086 cases.

In the interior of the 12-county Piedmont Triad, Guilford County has 259 deaths and 17,597 cases, Forsyth County has 169 deaths and 14,180 cases, Randolph County has 91 deaths and 5,732 cases, and Davidson County has 55 deaths and 5,681 cases — a total of 574 deaths and 43,190 cases.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 14.2 million confirmed cases and 278,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 9.5 million.

There are more than 65.6 million cases worldwide, with more than 1.5 million deaths.