One Triangle county reports zero new COVID cases, as others see campus spikes

Wake, Durham and Orange counties saw their fifth straight week of a lower percentage of COVID-19 tests returning positive, as one of the three counties added no new cases at all.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reports the state’s COVID-19 data Monday through Saturday, and for the past month has shown continual improvement in all three counties. Only Durham saw more new cases in the past seven days than in the week prior, while Orange removed cases from its running total.

Vaccine distribution efforts continue around the Triangle and the state, as North Carolina now reports more than 1.2 million people are fully vaccinated, according to DHHS. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines both require two doses spaced a few weeks apart to reach full effectiveness, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only a single dose.

On Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced the state would move a Group 4 subset’s vaccine eligibility up by a week. Starting March 17, those with one or more high-risk medical conditions for severe disease from COVID-19 and people living in close group settings will be eligible for the vaccine.

As the state gears up to begin vaccinating a new group, here’s how Wake, Durham and Orange are doing.

New cases, vaccinations in Wake

In Wake County, DHHS reported 1,109 new cases in the past week, down from 1,338 the week before. The county has seen a total of 76,697 cases since the pandemic began.

DHHS also reported a total of 572 deaths in the county, an increase of 22 in the past week. But deaths do not always occur on the days they are reported.

As of Thursday, a 14-day average of 4.5% of tests were returning positive in Wake. That’s a slight decrease from the 4.6% average the county saw the week before. State officials have said that figure needs to remain under 5% for community spread of the virus to be contained.

Since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not require multiple doses, the state no longer provides data by county on first and second doses of the vaccine administered — replacing those metrics with partial and full vaccination figures.

In Wake, 199,827 people were at least partially vaccinated as of Friday. Of those, 116,629 people are fully vaccinated, according to DHHS.

The number of ongoing outbreaks in Wake had dropped to 36 as of Saturday, down three from the week prior. Of those, 12 outbreaks occurred in nursing homes, 19 were in residential care facilities and five were in correctional facilities.

The state defines an outbreak as two or more staff or residents testing positive in a congregate living setting.

Clusters remained constant in Wake at 23, with 13 occurring in child-care settings and 10 in K-12 schools. A cluster is defined by the state as five or more confirmed cases that can be plausibly linked together over a 14-day period.

On Tuesday, the Wake County school board voted to put 4th and 5th graders back in daily in-person classes, The News & Observer reported. The change, which will occur on Monday, March 15, will see thousands of elementary students join K-3 students, pre-K students and special-education students in returning to school five days a week.

Two schools in Wake — a Cary private school and the Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina — reported new COVID-19 clusters in the past week.

At Cary Christian School, 24 students and five staff have tested positive for the virus — the most of any active cluster in the state, according to DHHS.

Also in the past week, Wake County began accepting applications again for its rental assistance program, which uses federal funds to assist tenants who have experienced financial hardships due to the pandemic.

Eligible tenants can apply for the rent and utility assistance at housewake.org. Tenants can also apply by calling (919) 899-9911 or emailing housing@telamon.org.

New cases in Durham, Duke ‘stay-in-place’ order

In Durham County, 306 new cases were reported in the last week — an increase from the 271 cases added the week before. Durham was the only one of the three counties to see a rise in added cases between weeks.

There have been a total of 22,068 cases in Durham, and 210 related deaths, according to DHHS. That’s two more deaths than had been reported a week ago.

As of Thursday, an average of 3.5% of tests were returning positive in Durham, a slight decrease from the 3.7% returning positive the week before.

Across the county, 65,948 people are at least partially vaccinated, while 44,837 have reached full vaccination.

Outbreaks remained steady at 11, with six occurring in nursing homes, two in residential care facilities, one in a correctional facility and two others in emergency housing programs.

Only one of the two clusters active a week ago in Durham remained ongoing as of Saturday. The cluster is in a child care facility, according to DHHS.

And on Saturday, Duke University issued a “stay-in-place” order as administrators moved to tighten restrictions in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus on campus. Classes have moved online as students living on campus were ordered to remain in their residence halls except for “essential” activities relating to food, health and safety.

The Durham campus has seen 180 students test positive for COVID-19 in a single week, while another 200 are in quarantine. University officials said the spike is related to fraternity parties and rush events.

No added cases in Orange

Orange County added no new COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to DHHS, and instead saw five cases removed from its running total. The county has seen a total of 7,822 cases and 97 deaths since the pandemic began. That’s two more deaths than were reported a week ago.

DHHS did not return multiple phone messages from The News & Observer on Sunday about the lowered case total. The department updates and corrects its numbers as new information becomes available, and a net of negative cases likely represents fewer new cases than cases removed in corrections to prior reports.

As of Thursday, an average of 0.6% of tests were returning positive in the county, down slightly from the 0.7% returning positive the week before.

In Orange, 36,089 people are at least partially vaccinated against the virus, while 25,403 have been fully vaccinated.

Outbreaks and clusters in Orange both fell by one in the past week, with one nursing home and one residential care facility experiencing outbreaks in the past week. The lone remaining cluster in Orange is occurring in a child care setting, according to DHHS.

This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 3:23 PM.