As Stanly nears 2,000 cases, it remains in top 10 in cases per capita

Published 6:40 pm Friday, September 25, 2020

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With Stanly County nearing 2,000 cases, it continues to remain in the top 10 in the state in coronavirus cases per capita.

With 305 cases per 10,000 people, Stanly is 7th in the state. It’s currently behind only Hertford (314 cases), Scotland (315), Robeson (338), Sampson (346), Montgomery (382) and Duplin (406).

The county has 1,970 cumulative cases, with 18 people hospitalized and 58 people having died as a result of the coronavirus as of Friday, according to data from the county health department. There were 299 active cases and 1,613 people who had the virus have recovered. More than 14,016 people have been tested.

Stanly has six outbreaks inside congregate living facilities, the largest of which is at the Albemarle Correctional Institution where 344 inmates have tested positive and three have died. That is the second largest outbreak in the state prison system behind only Neuse Correctional Institution in Goldsboro, which has had 466 cases. An outbreak is defined as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases.

The newest outbreak, reported this week, has come from Spring Arbor, which has three confirmed cases — all staff, according to information from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, which keeps track of outbreaks across NC. Spring Arbor has already had six cases and three deaths.

The other four outbreaks, according to NCDHHS data, include Stanly Manor with 75 cases and six deaths; Woodhaven Court with 72 cases and five deaths; Trinity Place with 56 cases and eight deaths; Bethany Woods with 40 cases; and Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center with 37 cases and seven deaths.

Pfeiffer University, as of Friday, has 17 cumulative coronavirus cases, including 15 that are currently active, according to information from the college’s website.

The county’s positivity rate — which is the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive — is 7.7 percent, according to NCDHHS, which is higher than the state’s overall rate of 5.2 percent. The percent positive is a key measure for any community, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, because it gives an indication about how widespread the infection is in a given area. Johns Hopkins notes that if the percent positive in a community is more than 5 percent then it is considered “too high.”

Albemarle continues to lead the county with around 883 cases and 45 deaths, followed by New London with 455 cases and three deaths, Norwood with roughly 153 cases and three deaths, Oakboro with 114 cases and two deaths and Locust with 112 cases, according to NCDHHS data.

Statewide, there have been more than 2.9 million tests conducted resulting in 204,331 cases. A total of 903 people are hospitalized, while 3,409 people have died.

Drive-in COVID-19 testing is available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Stanly County Commons. To be eligible for a test, a person must have had contact with someone who tested positive, interacted in a large group or exhibits coronavirus symptoms, according to the health department.

 

 

 

About Chris Miller

Chris Miller has been with the SNAP since January 2019. He is a graduate of NC State and received his Master's in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national papers via the AP wire.

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