Triangle COVID-19 trends: Wake County sees over 1,000 new cases as schools now on alert
This week, thousands of Wake school children returned to their classrooms for the first time since the middle of March.
While students are being phased into classrooms, there is a heightened awareness of where new COVID-19 cases may emerge.
Since Monday, at least seven cases have been reported, according to a new Wake County Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard and alerts from principals. That includes two at Fuquay-Varina High School and one apiece at Heritage High School in Wake Forest, Panther Creek High School in Cary and Forest Pines Drive Elementary in Raleigh.
Principals have not said whether the cases are among students or school employees to protect their privacy.
Thursday night, West Millbrook Middle in Raleigh and Alston Ridge Elementary in Cary announced cases as well.
Meanwhile, across Wake County, there have been 21,359 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, an increase of 1,065 since Oct. 22.
There have been 269 deaths associated with COVID-19 in the county.
This follows a trend statewide as North Carolina has now seen three days in the past week with over 2,500 new coronavirus cases. Thursday’s new case count—2,885 cases—set a record for the state, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
As cases rise across the state and country, Gov. Roy Cooper has called upon local and municipal leaders to help enforce coronavirus safety protocols, such as mask wearing, or tightening restrictions on gatherings.
Cooper extended phase 3 of eased restrictions last week. Phase 3 is now set to end on Nov. 13.
In the Triangle overall, there have been 1,457 new coronavirus cases since Oct. 22.
Durham County has reported 9,067 cases as of Thursday, an increase of 317 since last week. There have been 102 deaths.
Orange County reported 3,109 cases, an increase of 75 since last week, according to data from the county. There have been 58 deaths.
COVID-19 cases at Wake County high schools
Three cases in Wake County high schools are associated with athletic teams. Fuquay-Varina, Heritage and Panther Creek each had a case, The N&O reported.
The schools did not say whether those infected were students or adults.
Most high school students in the county are not taking classes in-person. Only Wake high school students in certain special-education programs are currently taking in-person classes.
Most Wake high school students will continue taking only online classes for the rest of the fall semester.
Congregate living data
The state releases data on outbreaks at nursing homes, long-term care facilities and other congregate care facilities on Tuesdays and Fridays.
As of Tuesday, Wake County has active outbreaks at two nursing homes, totaling 60 cases and 9 deaths. The county has two outbreaks at residential care facilities, totaling nine cases.
There have been 40 cases at the Wake County Detention Center. No one has died due to this outbreak, according to DHHS.
Durham County has active outbreaks at six nursing homes, totaling 274 cases and 22 deaths.
There have been 145 cases and four deaths at Durham Ridge Assisted Living due to an outbreak.
Orange County has active outbreaks at three nursing homes, totaling six cases.
Congregate living data reported by DHHS may be revised and reflects when the cases are reported, not necessarily when they’re diagnosed.
A closer look at Wake, Durham and Orange counties
Here is a look at COVID-19 data in Wake, Durham and Orange counties, as of Oct. 20.
▪ Percentage of positive tests. Wake County’s one-week average of positive tests increased from 3.7% to 4.1%. Durham County’s average of positive tests decreased slightly from last week, down from 5.2% to 5% on Wednesday. Orange County increased from 2.8% to 3.1%.
▪ Hospitalizations. DHHS reported 1,181 people in the hospital statewide as of Thursday. Hospitalizations have been increasing throughout October and hit their second highest number since the beginning of the pandemic on Tuesday.
▪ Demographics. Hispanic people accounted for 54% of Durham County’s COVID-19 cases, and 36% of Wake’s, according to DHHS, despite being less than 15% of the population in both counties.
Black and Hispanic people in Orange County continue to account for more cases per capita than white people. Black people account for 15% of the county’s cases and just 11% of the county population.
White people in Orange account for 60% of cases and 74% of the population. Hispanic people account for 30% of the cases, though they account for less than 10% of the county’s population.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 7:45 AM with the headline "Triangle COVID-19 trends: Wake County sees over 1,000 new cases as schools now on alert."