ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Health Department reports five new patients have tested positive for COVID-19.
With Wednesday’s update, the new cases bring the county’s total to 67.
All five of the new patients are between the ages of 41 and 50, according to the Health Department, bringing the total number of cases in that age group to 15 — surpassing the 65 and older group by two, making it the second-largest age group in the county.
The most cases in Richmond County are those aged 51-64. There are two cases under the age of 18; four cases of those 19-30; and nine cases of indivudials 31-40.
Statewide, the largest age group includes those 25-49, which makes up 42% of all the cases in North Carolina, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Four of the county’s patients are currently hospitalized and 30 are under home isolation.
The Health Department reported one new recovery on Wednesday, bringing that total up to 20.
Health and Human Services Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell said Tuesday that he soon hopes to see the number of recoveries higher than the number of new cases.
To qualify as being recovered, a patient has to go 10 days without showing symptoms and three days without a fever, according to Jarrell. He added that some individuals are taking longer to recover because they are still showing symptoms.
Two deaths in Richmond County have been attributed to complications from the coronavirus.
According to a map on the Health Department’s Facebook page, 38 of those who have tested positive have a Rockingham address, 24 are in Hamlet, four are in Ellerbe and one is in Hoffman.
Neighboring Moore County hasn’t seen an increase in cases since Monday, according to that county’s health department. However, there is still a discrepancy between county and state figures.
DHHS shows Moore with 106 cases and three deaths, while the county reports 147 cases with six deaths. The last two COVID-19-related deaths were reported on April 20.
After staying stagnant for several days, two other neighboring counties saw an increase in case numbers Wednesday — Anson County now has 31 and Scotland has 32, according to DHHS.
There have been 12,758 cases statewide since DHHS began keeping track.
(Note: The state’s number for Richmond County is lower by two, in addition to the discrepancy with Moore County, so the figures could be off in other counties.)
Avery remains the sole county without a single confirmed case of COVID-19.
According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, Chesterfield County has 61 confirmed cases and Marlboro County has 54.
