County sees 34 new cases, no new deaths as state notes new high

Drive-up testing is continuing at Columbus Regional Health Center by appointment.

Columbus County reported 34 new cases but no new fatalities in Thursday’s COVID-19 pandemic report.

The Health Department said that since the pandemic began in March, 1,562 total cases have been confirmed here, with 1,276 recoveries and 59 deaths. Active cases total 228, with ten people hospitalized, Daniel Buck of the Health Department said.

The county updates totals on Monday and Thursday of each week. Since the last report, when a total of 1,529 cases were recorded, the county has seen two new cases on Oct. 12, 17 on Oct. 13, 13 on Oct. 14, and two as of Thursday morning.

Testing for the entire county topped 17,722 lab tests and 11,185 rapid tests as of this week for the entire pandemic.

Meanwhile, the state reported a new record number of one-day totals, with 2,532 cases confirmed by labs and documented by the state Department of Health and Human services (DHHS). The previous record high, blamed on the “July 4 bump”, was 2,486 on July 23.

North Carolina currently has a total of 238,939 cases, the DHHS reported.

A total of 18 new deaths statewide were reported as of Thursday noon, for a total of 3,874 for the entire pandemic.238,939 people have been diagnosed with the virus since March.

Hospitalizations dropped Thursday to 1,140, a decrease of 12 since Wednesday. More than 3.4 million rapid and lab tests have been completed statewide.

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About Jefferson Weaver 1386 Articles
Jefferson Weaver is the Managing Editor of Columbus County News and the News Director for WTXY AM1540 & Kool 103.9FM Radio. He can be reached at (910) 632-4965, or by email at jeffersonweaver@ColumbusCountyNews.com.