ROCKINGHAM — The number of COVID-related hospitalizations involving Richmond County residents dropped below 20 for the first time in nearly three weeks.
According to the daily update from the Richmond County County Health Department on Thursday, 17 residents diagnosed with COVID-19 were in a hospital, down from 20 the previous day.
There have been at least 20 hospitalizations since Jan. 8, peaking at 27 on Jan. 21.
Hospitalizations are also on the decline on the regional and state levels.
FirstHealth reports that 73 of its 380 patients (19.2%) are COVID-positive. The Scotland Health Care System did not have updated statistics on Thursday.
Statewide numbers have been dropping over the past week and hit it’s second-lowest point in the past month on Thursday with 3,238, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Daily positive case numbers, which had also been dropping, rose slightly both in the county and across the state.
The Health Department reported 34 new cases, driving the number of active cases up to 417. Active cases have remained above 400 all but one day since Jan. 7, hitting a high of 504 on Jan 14.
Richmond County Schools had already updated its COVID spreadsheet to Jan. 29 at the time of this writing. The spreadsheet has also been altered to only show cases for one day and cumulative, instead of the full week as it was late last year.
Statewide cases rose by more than 900 to 6,490. The daily record high was set Jan.9 at 11,581.
The Health Department announced that the free drive-thru testing site behind the building will have modified hours for the next two days, starting at noon on Friday, before resuming a regular schedule on Saturday at 10 a.m. Testing runs through 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
There will also be free rapid testing at the Dobbins Heights Community Center Jan. 31.
Of all the tests performed on Richmond County residents, 27,141 have been negative and 3,593 have been positive.
Earlier in the day, the Health Department reported the county's 71st COVID-related death.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of local cases per age group are as follows (includes recoveries):
(+ Denotes increase from the previous report.)
The number of active cases per ZIP code are as follows:
There have been an estimated 20 recoveries in the past 24 hours.
