COVID cases back on the rise across Triangle, and school clusters are up in one county
Triangle counties saw more added COVID-19 cases in the past week and higher average percentages of tests returning positive, breaking a five-week trend of steady improvement.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reports the state’s COVID-19 data Monday through Saturday, with no new data reported on Sundays.
For Wake and Orange counties, which had previously seen more than a month of consistently lowered new case counts each week, the week’s data ended a streak of progress in containing the spread of the virus. And for Wake, the week was also marked by an increase in COVID-19 clusters in school and child care settings.
Durham County saw its second week in a row of more added cases than were reported in the week prior.
The week also saw the state begin vaccinating residents with one or more high-risk medical conditions for severe disease from COVID-19, as the vaccine continues to be administered across the state. More than 3.5 million doses have been administered, and DHHS reported Friday that nearly 1.3 million people have been fully vaccinated.
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.
As another week comes to a close, here’s how Wake, Durham and Orange counties are doing.
New cases, clusters in Wake
In Wake County, DHHS reported 1,530 new cases of the coronavirus in the past week, bringing the county’s total to 78,227 cases since the pandemic began last year. That’s up from the 1,109 new cases that were reported in the week prior.
The county added 14 deaths in the past week, though deaths do not necessarily occur on the days they are reported. A total of 586 people have died from the virus in Wake.
As of Thursday, an average of 4.7% of tests were returning positive over a 14-day period. That’s more than the 4.5% of tests that were returning positive the week before, but still lower than the 5% threshold state health officials have cited as necessary to contain the virus.
DHHS reported Friday that 227,104 people in Wake County are at least partially vaccinated — an increase of 27,277 from the week before. Of those, 140,512 are fully vaccinated. That’s up 23,883 from the week before.
The number of ongoing outbreaks in Wake dropped significantly, down to 23 from 36 in the week prior. Of those, five were in nursing homes, 13 were in residential care facilities and five were in correctional facilities.
The state defines an outbreak as two or more residents or staff testing positive in a congregate living setting.
But while outbreaks dropped, clusters rose again in Wake — rising to 27 from 23 the week before. Of those, 15 were happening in child-care settings, while 12 were occurring in K-12 schools.
DHHS defines a cluster as five or more confirmed cases of the virus that can be plausibly linked together.
The new clusters include a Wake County elementary school and a charter school, The News & Observer reported Friday.
Four students and one staff member tested positive at Zebulon Elementary School, according to DHHS. All students and staff in the affected classrooms were asked to quarantine for 14 days, and will participate remotely until they are able to return to the school.
At the Casa Esperanza Montessori School in Raleigh, eight students and two staff members have tested positive for the virus. The K-8 charter school had switched to remote learning due to the cases, but students returned in-person Monday, according to a school document.
New cases, vaccinations in Durham
In Durham County, 449 new cases were added in the past week, an increase from the 306 reported the week before. DHHS reported a total of 22,517 cases in Durham since the pandemic began.
The county saw zero new deaths in the past week. In total, 210 people in Durham have died from the virus.
An average of 4.6% of tests were returning positive as of Thursday. That’s higher than the 3.5% of tests that were returning positive last week.
DHHS reported 76,583 people in the county are at least partially vaccinated, while 51,432 of those people are fully protected against the virus. Those are increases of 10,635 and 6,595, respectively, from the week before.
Outbreaks in Durham dropped from 11 to nine, with five in nursing homes, one in a residential care facility and three in emergency housing programs. Clusters in Durham remained constant at one, which was occurring in a child care setting.
On Tuesday, Durham Public Schools closed four classrooms across two schools after two students and a staff member tested positive.
Three of the classes were at Southwest Elementary School on Cook Road, where the two students tested positive. The other classroom was at Club Boulevard Elementary School on West Club Boulevard, where a support staff member tested positive for the virus.
And Sunday morning, Duke University said it would resume in-person classes, relaxing restrictions that had been implemented just one week prior. The university had enacted a “stay-in-place” order and switched to remote learning after more than 200 students tested positive for the virus in a single week.
Administrators said Saturday the restrictions had led to a decline in positive tests, and slowed the spread enough to ease restrictions.
New cases, vaccinations in Orange
In Orange County, DHHS reported 83 new cases in the past week, up from the five cases removed from the county’s total the week before. Orange has seen a total of 7,905 cases and 99 deaths since the pandemic began. That’s two more deaths than had been reported the week before.
As of Thursday, an average of 0.7% of tests were returning positive in Orange. That’s slightly higher than the 0.6% of tests returning positive the week prior.
Across the county, 41,278 people are at least partially vaccinated, according to DHHS. That’s 5,189 more than were reported the week before. Of those at least partially vaccinated, 29,663 people are fully protected against the virus, an increase of 4,260 from the week before.
Outbreaks in Orange remained constant between weeks, with one occurring in a nursing home, and another in a residential care facility. Clusters rose by one to a total of two, with both occurring in child care settings.
Also in the past week, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board approved a plan that will see students begin a hybrid schedule of both in-person and virtual classes Monday.
This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 2:51 PM.