ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County’s COVID-19 case count has risen to 80, with 13 new cases being reported on Thursday.
One of those new cases is that of a detainee at the Richmond County Jail, the sheriff’s office announced earlier in the day.
Four of the new cases are individuals 65 or older, comparing statistics from Wednesday, with a total of 17 in that age group.
There is one new case in the 51-64 age group, which is now up to 25; five new cases in the 41-50 age group, bringing that number to 20; and three new cases in the 19-30 age group, for a new total of seven.
There has been no change in the number of cases in the age groups for those 18 and younger or 31-40, or in the number of deaths attributed to the coronavirus.
Five patients are currently hospitalized and 44 remain under home isolation.
The Richmond County Health Department also reports that 29 patients have recovered since testing positive for the coronavirus.
To qualify as being recovered, a patient has to go 10 days without showing symptoms and three days without a fever, according to Health and Human Services Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell. He added that some individuals are taking longer to recover because they are still showing symptoms.
According to a map listing cases by Zip code, 46 of those who have tested positive have a Rockingham address, 29 are in Hamlet, four are in Ellerbe and one is in Hoffman.
Out of 164,482 tests performed statewide, 12,758 have returned a positive result in 99 counties, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Avery County still has yet to have a single confirmed case.
DHHS reports that 516 North Carolinans are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus and 477 deaths have been attributed to it.
The number of cases in Mecklenburg County is approaching 2,000, with 1,922 residents in the Charlotte area testing positive. The second-highest number of cases in Wake County, which has 961.
Two other counties, Durham and Wayne, each have more than 690 cases.
Most rural counties have fewer than 100 cases, with Robeson, Columbus, Vance, Granville, Edgecombe, Duplin and Rutherford being among the exceptions.
The state reports 62 ongoing outbreaks at nursing homes in 36 counties, including Moore and Anson.
Those outbreaks have resulted in 1,933 cases and 229 COVID-19-attributed deaths. Four of Richmond County’s cases are tied to the outbreak at Pinehurst Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.
There are also 1,031 cases related to outbreaks at 15 correctional facilities, which include county jails.
“In a congregate living setting, a COVID-19 outbreak is defined as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases,” according to DHHS. “An outbreak is considered over if there is not evidence of continued transmission within the facility. This is measured as 28 days after the person identified as the last case began having symptoms, or their date of specimen collection if they didn’t have symptoms. If another case is detected in a facility after an outbreak is declared over, the outbreak is not reopened. It is counted as a case in congregate living settings, and if a second case is detected within 28 days in the same facility, it is considered a second, new outbreak in that facility.”
There is still a discrepancy in the number of cases reported by the state and by the Moore County Health Department.
While DHHS shows only 109 cases and seven related deaths, the health department reports 150 cases with nine deaths.
Below are the number of confirmed cases in other surrounding counties:
Union – 283
Anson – 33
Stanly – 29
Montgomery – 43
Scotland – 34
Robeson – 313
Hoke – 113
Chesterfield – 65
Marlboro – 54
