ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County’s daily COVID-19 case count on Friday was less than half of what it was the previous day.
The Health Department reported 40 new cases, compared to the 95 on Thursday.
Health and Human Services Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell said he wasn’t surprised by the high number because of the numerous testing that had been performed in recent days.
So far, there have been 320 cases of the coronavirus this month. There were just over 400 for both October and November and more than 800 in December.
There are currently 439 active cases in the county — the most, thus far, during the pandemic.
New statewide cases topped 10,000 for the second consecutive day with 10,028, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Earlier in the week, DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen issued a secretarial directive urging North Carolinians to stay home and avoid crowds and Gov. Roy Cooper extended the modified stay-at-home order until the end of the month.
The number of statewide hospitalizations on Thursday remained the same from the previous day at a record high of 3,960, DHHS reported. That number has been steadily climbing since mid-November.
Richmond County’s hospitalizations rose to a near-record high of 20 on Friday. The highest number was 22 on Dec. 8 and 9.
FirstHealth reports that 96 of its 361 patients (26.6%) are COVID-positive. Scotland Memorial Hospital has 37 patients isolated.
“COVID-19 is spreading at a dangerous pace,” Cooper said on Twitter Friday. “Treat it like the serious threat that it is. Keep your mask on and think carefully about how to reduce your risk.”
Free COVID-19 testing will continue throughout the month in the parking lot behind the Health Department. Testing will run from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, except when closed for lunch from noon-12:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Of all the tests performed on county residents, 23,784 have returned a negative result and 2,976 have been positive. The Health Department estimates that 2,483 have recovered.
Earlier in the day, the county reported the first COVID-related death of 2021.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of local cases per age group are as follows (includes recoveries):
- 0-18 – 441 (+5)
- 19-30 – 484 (+5)
- 31-40 – 395 (+3)
- 41-50 – 507(+9)
- 51-64 – 628 (+12)
- 65-older – 521 (+6)
(+ Denotes increase from previous report)
The number of active cases per ZIP code are as follows:
- Rockingham – 264
- Hamlet – 124
- Ellerbe – 44
- Hoffman – 5
- Mount Gilead – 0
- Marston – 2
- Jackson Springs – 0
The total numbers (including recoveries) for surrounding counties are as follows:
- Mecklenburg – 69,101 (other counties to top 10,000 are Wake, Guilford, Forsyth, Durham, Alamance, Buncombe, Cumberland, Gaston, Pitt, Johnston, Cabarrus, Catawba, Iredell, Union, New Hanover, Onlsow, Rowan and Robeson)
- Union – 14,324
- Stanly – 4,850
- Montgomery – 2,183
- Anson – 1,599
- Moore – 5,533 (828 active)
- Hoke – 3,014
- Scotland – 2,859
- Robeson – 10,866 (more than higher-populated counties New Hanover and Buncombe)
All numbers are from DHHS except Moore and Scotland.
Tyrrell County, the smallest by population, remains the only one of the state’s 100 counties to have fewer than 200 cases with 194.
