<p>Smith</p>

Smith

LUMBERTON — For the second straight week, Robeson County has set a new record for the most COVID-19 cases in a seven-day period.

After last week’s case count shattered the previous record, cases are up 36.5% in the last seven days, with 2,625 new cases reported by the Robeson County Health Department between Jan. 11 and Monday.

Last week’s then-record total was 1,923 cases from Jan. 4-10.

Approximately 1 in every 44 Robeson County residents has tested positive in the last seven days and approximately 1 in every 26 has tested positive in the last 14 days. The testing positivity rate is 31% over the last 14 days — more than six times the stated 5% goal — and 35% over the seven-day period ending Saturday, county Health Department Director Bill Smith said.

“With the addition of take home tests that can be requested through the mail, being offered by the federal government, one can expect a decrease in public testing unless a verified result is needed,” Smith said. “Many employers will not accept home tests since verification of who actually took the test is not possible without a reliable monitor.”

The county’s case total for the duration of the pandemic is now 33,198.

“Positive cases increased by over 700 from the previous reporting period — this was painfully obvious when one drove by the mass testing sites and saw the volume of cars in line,” Smith said. “Many schools are just returning to classes so one could anticipate a rise in this population. Nearly 40% of the cases are to children 17 and under. The vaccination rate for children 5 to 11 is 8% and for (age) 12 to 17 it is 31%.”

Three new virus-related deaths were reported in Robeson County from Jan. 11 through Monday, down from six reported from Jan. 4-10. The county’s pandemic death toll is now 464.

There have been 59,176 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Robeson County, or 45% of the population, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services statistics; 52,975 individuals have received a second dose, or 41%.

There have been 17,393 booster doses administered in the county, accounting for 32.8% of the individuals who completed a primary series of the vaccine.

UNC Health Southeastern reported 42 virus-positive patients in isolation at its medical center as of late Monday; of these 29 are unvaccinated. There are five virus-positive patients in the intensive care unit, three of whom are unvaccinated, and three on ventilators, one of whom is unvaccinated.

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke reported 17 active cases among its student body on campus as of late Monday, with 23 active cases among faculty and staff and three among subcontractors. There have been 18 new student-body cases, 22 new faculty/staff cases and four new subcontractor cases reported over the last seven days; for the spring semester, the university reports 33 total student-body cases with 37 among faculty and staff and seven among subcontractors.

Statewide, NCDHHS reported 225,138 new cases between Jan. 12 and Tuesday, up from 162,421 cases between Jan. 5-11. The state surpassed 2 million total COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic; there have now been 2,130,403 cases in North Carolina since March 2020.

There were 294 virus-related deaths reported in the state from Jan. 12 through Tuesday, up from the 212 reported from Jan. 5-11, bringing the state’s pandemic total to exactly 20,000.

There are a pandemic-record 4,630 virus-related hospitalizations around North Carolina as of Tuesday, up from the 3,991 reported on Jan. 11.

There have been 6,191,718 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in North Carolina as of Tuesday, or 64% of the population, according to NCDHHS; 5,751,639 have completed both doses, or 59%. There have been 2,776,964 booster doses administered in the state.