ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County’s COVID-19 total has risen to 62, according to local and state health officials.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported the increase of three to 61 in its 11 a.m. update on Tuesday.
But by the time the Richmond County Health Department released its update later in the afternoon, there was an additional confirmed case.
Health and Human Services Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell told the RO last week that the state pulls its numbers at 5 a.m. each day.
Comparing statistics from the previous day, the four new patients appear to be between the ages of 51 and 64. That is the highest of any age group in the county.
Jarrell said one of the new patients identified as being an employee of Burlington Industries, which had several other workers to test positive. One is listed as being disabled and the other as being unemployed. There was no employment information for the fourth individual.
An additional three people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 19, one being a Burlington employee. Five are currently hospitalized and 36 are under home isolation. Two deaths have been attributed to COVID-19.
Jarrell said he’s hoping the department can announce more recoveries on Wednesday.
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.
“We hope we can start reporting more recoveries than new (cases),” he said.
Tuesday’s update did not include a zip code map.
Neighboring Moore County also had an increase, bringing its total to 147, according to the local health department. However, DHHS only shows 93 cases and still only three related deaths, although the county reported its fifth and sixth deaths on April 20.
Scotland County also announced its first two coronavirus-related deaths, a male and a female, on Tuesday.
Avery County remains the sole county without a single confirmed case of COVID-19.
The number of statewide cases has risen by more than 400 to 12,256 within the past 24 hours.
According to DHHS, 534 North Carolinians are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus and 452 deaths have been attributed to it.
Anson and Scotland counties have remained stagnant at 30 cases, as has Stanly with 29.
Meanwhile, Robeson has increased to 249, Hoke to 101 and Union to 271.
South Carolina border counties Marlboro and Chesterfield have each risen by two and one, respectively, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
