ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County recorded more than 20 new COVID-19 cases and the state set another new one-day record, topping 4,000.
The Richmond County Health Department on Thursday reported 21 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the week’s total so far to 111 and the overall to 1,712.
The number of active cases is 186, after dropping below 100 earlier this month. Of the active cases, 179 are under home isolation and the remaining seven are hospitalized.
There have been 263 cases reported this month, with the Health Department reporting only one day with fewer than 10 cases.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 4,296 new cases statewide, surpassing the record set on Nov. 11 by more than 400. Six of the past nine days have seen more than 3,000 cases each.
“I am very concerned,” DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a press release. “We are seeing warning signs in our trends that we need to heed to keep our family and friends from getting sick and ensuring our hospitals are able to care for those that have serious illness.
Cohen said that could be done by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, washing hands and avoiding crowds.
“We have reasons for hope,” she continued. “With promising news on vaccines, this pandemic will end. Until then, North Carolinians need to do what we’ve done throughout this pandemic — take care of one another.”
According to DHHS, North Carolina has seen 325,158 total cases since testing began, and experienced 4,936 COVID-related deaths, including 38 in Richmond County.
The daily testing rate seems to be holding about the same since Oct. 21 at around 30,000 per day.
Statewide COVID-related hospitalizations have also recently risen to more than 1,500.
According to FirstHealth, 36 of its 381 patients (9.4%) have COVID-19.
Richmond County Schools on Thursday reported that two virtual students — one each from the Ninth Grade Academy and Richmond Senior — tested positive.
That makes 21 school-related cases this week: 15 virtual students, five traditional students and one staff member.
Of the 53,658 tests completed by FirstHealth, 5,534 have been positive, 47,221 have been negative and 319 results are still pending.
On the county level, there have been 16,369 negative results since the pandemic began. The Health Department says 1,488 of those who tested positive have recovered.
Free testing COVID in the parking lot behind the Human Services Complex on Caroline Stree has been extended until Dec. 31. Testing will run from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday through the rest of the month, except for Thanksgiving Day and the day after.
Register for testing by visiting www.lhi.care and following the directions at the top or by calling 877-562-4850.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of local cases per age group are as follows (includes recoveries):
- 0-18 – 256 (+1)
- 19-30 – 295 (+6)
- 31-40 – 222 (+2)
- 41-50 – 304 (+6)
- 50-64 – 351 (+4)
- 65-older – 284 (+2)
(The + indicates the increase from the previous day.)
The total number of cases per ZIP code are as follows:
- Rockingham – 905 (113 active)
- Hamlet – 487 (59 active)
- Ellerbe – 149 (9 active)
- Hoffman – 149 (3 active)
- Mount Gilead – 10 (0 active)
- Marston – 11 (2 active)
- Jackson Springs – 1 (0 active)
More than 60 of the state’s 100 counties have now experienced more than 1,000 total cases.
Only four counties have had fewer than 200 cases, and they are all in the northeast corner of the state: Tyrrell (137), Camden (165), Gates (188) and Hyde (180). All four are among the state’s 10 least-populated counties.
The total numbers (including recoveries) for surrounding counties are as follows:
- Mecklenburg -39,556 (other counties to top 10,000 are Wake, Guilford, Forsyth and Durham. All are among the state’s six most-populated counties.)
- Union – 7,063
- Stanly – 2,754
- Montgomery – 1,315
- Anson – 841
- Moore – 2,635 (221 active, 59 deaths)
- Hoke – 1,823
- Scotland – 1,805
- Robeson – 6,856
All numbers are from DHHS except Moore, which are from the local health department, as there has been a discrepancy with the state.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is reporting 1,672 total cases and 52 deaths in Chesterfield County and 1,299 cases and 16 deaths in Marlboro County.
