ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County’s COVID case average has dropped to 12.57 per day as numbers continue to stay low.
The Richmond County Health Department reported a total of 88 cases this week: 44 on Monday (includes Saturday and Sunday); 13 on Tuesday; 10 on Wednesday; 11 on Thursday; and 10 on Friday.
However, this week’s seven-day average is slightly higher than last week’s 11.2, with 79 total.
The county broke the 7,000 threshold this week, with a current pandemic total of 7,059.
Richmond County Schools reported only one case on Friday at the Ninth Grade Academy.
The number of student related cases for this school year now stands at 303, an increase of 11 since Monday afternoon.
According to the RCS COVID Tracker, Richmond Senior High School has had 70 student-related cases, NGA has had 90 and Hamlet Middle has had 33. Aside from East Rockingham Elementary with 22, all other schools have had fewer than 20 cases.
There have also been a total of 51 staff-related cases.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is also reporting a continuing downward track, with 3,182 cases reported statewide on Friday. Daily cases dipped as low as 1,786 on Monday.
If the decrease in hospitalizations continues, the statewide number could drop below 2,000 by the beginning of next week.
According to NCDHHS, there were 2,074 North Carolinians hospitalized with COVID on Thursday — down from 3,690 on Sept. 13.
FirstHealth reported Friday that 33 of its 383 patients (9%) were COVID-positive. Of those, four have been vaccinated and 29 have not. There are five COVID patients in ICU and two on ventilators, none of whom are vaccinated.
More than 200 Richmond County residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19 this week, according to the Health Department. The total now stands at 19,125.
As of Thursday, 50% of the eligible population of those 12 and older had been vaccinated, accounting for 43% of the total population. The Health Department’s goal is to have 66% of the county vaccinated.
Testing is available Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m at the Health Department and a secondary site opened last week at Cole Auditorium on the campus of Richmond Community College and will run from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Both the vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna are available through the Health Department, where they are available Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Fridays from 8-11 a.m. There is no charge and no appointment necessary.
