ROCKINGHAM — While Richmond County has seen more recoveries than new cases in the past week, the count keeps rising.
The Richmond County Health Department reported five new cases on Thursday and three on Friday bringing the total case count to 197.
There have been 18 new cases reported since Saturday, June 6.
Since then, the number of coronavirus-related deaths has increased by two, with one reported both Monday and Thursday, bringing the total to five.
The number of hospitalizations has decreased with one of the 48 active cases being in a facility, according to the Health Department. The remaining 47 are under home isolation.
Since the weekend, nearly 30 patients have recovered, with that number jumping from 114 to 143.
Statewide, the number of new cases shot up to 1,768 on Friday — exceeding the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Dashboard graph which only goes as high as 1,500 — making it the highest one-day total since testing began.
Earlier this week, DHHS announced that it was focussing on those who may not be showing symptoms but may have been exposed to COVID-19, especially those in “historically marginalized populations who have been disproportionately impacted” by the virus.
- Clinicians are recommended to conduct or arrange for diagnostic COVID-19 testing for:
- Anyone with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.
- Close contacts of known positive cases, regardless of symptoms.
- The following groups are some of the populations with higher risk of exposure or a higher risk of severe disease if they become infected. People in these groups should get tested if they believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19, whether or not they have symptoms.
- People who live in or have regular contact with high-risk settings (e.g., long-term care facility, homeless shelter, correctional facility, migrant farmworker camp).
- Historically marginalized populations who may be at higher risk for exposure.
- Frontline and essential workers (grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, child care workers, construction sites, processing plants, etc.) in settings where social distancing is difficult to maintain.
- Health care workers or first responders (e.g. EMS, law enforcement, fire department, military).
- People who are at high risk of severe illness (e.g., people over 65 years of age, people of any age with underlying health conditions).
- People who have attended protests, rallies, or other mass gatherings could have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or could have exposed others. Testing should be considered for people who attended such events, particularly if they were in crowds or other situations where they couldn’t practice effective social distancing.
Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday that state leaders were concerned about the growing number of cases and hospitalizations in the Tar Heel State.
“While our hospitals still have capacity, we know this can change at any moment,” Cooper said, adding that the state was working with hospitals to track beds closely.
The number of those hospitalized dropped from 812 Thursday to 760 on Friday, according to DHHS statistics.
The state reported that 78 percent of impatient hospital beds and 79 percent of ICU beds were currently being used.
The former Sandhills Regional Medical Center in Hamlet has been leased by the state to handle an overflow of patients not infected with the coronavirus, should the need arise.
Cooper added that the high number of cases is not due to just an increase in testing.
“These numbers show the disease is spreading and that more people need hospital care,” Cooper said. “And this has to be taken seriously.”
The governor went on to say that those who have been in a crowd have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19.
“This is particularly true when many people are not wearing face coverings and there’s little social distancing,” he said. “So we recommend that anyone who’s been in a crowd get tested, even if you have no symptoms.”
Republicans this week accused Cooper of a case of “Do as I say, not as I do,” after he was seen marching with protesters in front of the Executive Mansion without a mask.
Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen echoed her sentiment from earlier this week that she was concerned with the spike in new cases.
She said other states were also seeing an increase in cases, adding that the virus is “a serious threat.”
Cohen said the state looks at three metrics when making policy decisions: COVID-like syndromic cases; lab-confirmed cases; percentage of positive tests; and hospitalizations.
She added that all four need to be taken into consideration when making decisions.
Cohen went on to go over statewide statistics and said the state had enough supplies to make it through at least the next 30 days.
“We all have to work together on this,” she said. “We can protect our families and neighbors, we can rebuild our economy, we can look forward to our children returning to school. But, we must all do our part to make these things happen.”
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of Richmond County cases and recoveries by ZIP code are as follows:
- Rockingham – 125 (98 recovered)
- Hamlet – 58 (38 recovered)
- Ellerbe – 11 (5 recovered)
- Hoffman – 2 (1 recovered)*
- Mount Gilead – 1 – recovered
*The Richmond County Health Department previously reported a total of three cases in Hoffman.
The number of cases per age group are as follows:
- 0-18 – 22
- 19-30 – 30
- 31-40 – 26
- 41-50 – 39
- 50-64 – 51
- 65-older – 29
The total numbers (including recoveries) for surrounding counties are as follows:
- Mecklenburg – 6,538
- Union – 672
- Anson – 83
- Stanly – 144
- Montgomery – 185
- Moore – 306
- Hoke – 296
- Scotland – 104
- Robeson – 1056
All numbers except Moore and Robeson counties are from DHHS, which are from their respective health departments, as there is a significant discrepancy with the state.
As of June 8, DHHS estimates that 23,653 patients in the Tar Heel State have recovered.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control last updated its numbers on June 2, reporting 226 cases in Chesterfield County and 215 in Marlboro County.
