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Covid metrics in Stanly County continue to improve following the omicron surge last month.

The Stanly County Health Department reported 184 new cases this week, a 31 percent decrease from last week, when 268 were recorded. This marks the fourth consecutive week the county has seen a decrease in new cases.

The week’s tally is the fewest number of new cases since the week of Dec. 23, when 165 cases were reported.

With the addition of this week’s tally, there have been more than 19,100 Covid cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.

The county’s percent positive rate fell to 18 percent from 21 percent last week. That’s a vast improvement from the end of January when the rate was approaching 40 percent. The state’s positivity rate is much lower, at 10 percent.

There were approximately 440 active cases identified this week within the county, a 16 percent decrease from the roughly 525 active cases last week.

Hospitalizations have continued to decline since reaching peak levels late last month at close to 50. There were 19 people hospitalized as of Friday, a slight decrease from last week’s total of 22.

There were three deaths this week, bringing the cumulative tally to 263. So far this year, 41 people have died from Covid.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 4,871 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, down from 5,583 the day before. Less than 3,000 new cases were reported on Feb. 15, the lowest daily total since mid-December.

At least 2,634 people were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Feb. 17, a 26 percent decrease from the week prior and the lowest daily total since Jan. 1.