ROCKINGHAM — The roller coaster of new COVID-19 cases continues in Richmond County and across the state.
The Richmond County Health Department only reported three new cases on Tuesday — down from 10 at the start of the week — but the number jumped back up to nine on Wednesday, for 22 new cases in three days.
The county now stands at 384 total cases since testing began in March. The first case wasn’t reported until early April and Richmond was among the last 10 of the state’s 100 counties to have a resident test positive.
The number of active cases is now at 116, with three in the hospital and 113 under home isolation.
According to the Health Department, 261 patients have now recovered — an increase of seven since Monday.
Out of all the tests performed, the Health Department reports that 2,613 have returned a negative result.
After setting a new record high on July 11, new cases statewide have been on a mostly downward track, with 1,782 reported on Wednesday by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That number is still higher than any day in June.
According to DHHS, 24,000-28,000 North Carolinians have been tested each day since July 8, with an overall total of 1,284,637.
The total number of cases to date is 91,266. The state announced in a report Monday that 67,124 patients are presumed to have recovered.
Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday said that the state will remain in Phase 2 of his reopening plan, which was set to expire on Friday, for yet another three weeks.
The governor said that case numbers are “still troubling” and that easing restrictions could cause a spike that would affect opening schools.
Cooper also strongly encouraged state residents to wear face coverings as “the easiest and most effective way” to open schools and ease economic restrictions which were put in place through his executive orders.
Cooper issued an executive order mandating the wearing of face masks or other coverings, which has seen pushback residents. That order prohibits law enforcement from enforcing individuals to wear masks, but requires businesses to enforce the edict.
Citing CDC Director Robert Redfield, Cooper said that if everyone would wear a face covering over the next six weeks, “we could drive this virus into the ground.”
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of local cases per age group are as follows:
- 0-18 – 47
- 19-30 – 61
- 31-40 – 61
- 41-50 – 71
- 50-64 – 94
- 65-older – 50
The number of cases per ZIP code are as follows:
- Rockingham – 227 (150 recovered)
- Hamlet – 102 (73 recovered)
- Ellerbe – 36 (23 recovered)
- Hoffman – 18 (14 recovered)
- Mount Gilead – 1 – recovered
According to the Health Department, African Americans account for 42 percent of confirmed cases in Richmond County. Caucasisans make up 40 percent and Hispanics 17 percent.
The majority of cases, 59 percent, are women, while men account for 41 percent.
DHHS reports that ¼ of the state’s 100 counties that have now experienced more than 1,000 total cases, with Orange and Wilson recently joining Burke, Catawba, Iredell, Chatham, Davidson, Mecklenburg, Gaston, Union, Rowan, Cabarrus, Randolph, Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance, Durham, Wake, Johnston, Wayne, Duplin, Sampson, New Hanover, Cumberland and Robeson counties.
With the exception of New Hanover in the east, those counties form a contiguous arc around the Piedmont.
Lee, Granville, Buncombe and Henderson counties all have had more than 900 total caes.
Graham County, in the mountains, bordering Tennessee, still has had only 10 positive cases, the fewest in the state, according to DHHS. The only other counties in that region with fewer than 20 are Clay (16) and Maidson (18).
On the coast, Tyrrell, the state’s least-populated county, has spiked over the past week to 62, with nine new cases since Monday. Gates and Hyde counties each have 31, the lowest in the eastern part of the state. The only other counties with fewer than 40 cases in that region are Currituck (33) and Jones, Chowan and Pamlico (39 each).
The total numbers (including recoveries) for surrounding counties are as follows:
- Mecklenburg -15,950 (the only county to top 10,000)
- Union – 1,942
- Stanly – 597
- Montgomery – 417
- Anson – 218
- Moore – 654 (142 active)
- Hoke – 482
- Scotland – 177
- Robeson – 1,731
All numbers except Moore are from DHHS, which is from the local health department, as there has been a discrepancy with the state showing fewer cases. However, on Monday, DHHS reported only one fewer case than the county.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, which last updated its numbers on July 14, is reporting 476 cases in Chesterfield County and 345 in Marlboro County.
