Wake County COVID-19 deaths approach 200 as Triangle continues to battle coronavirus
Wake County COVID-19 deaths approached 200 as its confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 14,500 Sunday, according to the state health department.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 199 COVID-19 related deaths in Wake County on Sunday, the second-highest death count in the state behind Mecklenburg County (284).
Wake had 14,868 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday, according to DHHS.
The state reported 6,878 cases and 84 deaths in Durham County and 2,255 cases and 50 deaths in Orange County on Sunday.
DHHS reported 166,127 cases statewide Sunday and 2,682 deaths.
The latest numbers reflect college campuses in Wake, Durham and Orange counties starting classes earlier this month and driving up counts in counties that had been seeing declines in their numbers.
Wake County
Forty percent of the deaths in Wake were people who were 85 or older, according to Wake County’s COVID-19 website. About 21% were people between the ages 75 and 84, and 20% were between 65 and 74,
Seventy-nine of the deaths were in Raleigh, followed by 20 in Knightdale and 19 in Wake Forest, according to the website.
About 44% of those who died were white, while 36% were Black and 14% were Hispanic, according to the website.
N.C. State University, which recently moved classes online and closed most dorms, reported at least 812 students and employees have tested positive since Aug. 11, according to the school’s dashboard that was last updated Friday.
As of Friday, Wake County had one cluster of five cases or more at a child care business. Goddard School of Holly Springs had a total of 12 cases, according to a Friday DHHS report.
Wake County had 15 COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes, according to the report. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases.
In those facilities, there have been a total of 669 cases in residents and staff and 86 people have died from related causes.
In addition, eight residential care facilities in Wake had ongoing outbreaks with a total of 120 cases and six deaths, according to a Friday DHHS report.
The Wake County jail has an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in which 26 inmates have tested positive, according to the state report.
Durham County
At Duke University, which implemented mass testing as students started school, at least 37 students and staff have tested positive since Aug. 2, according to the school’s COVID-19 website that was last updated Aug 24.
At N.C. Central University, which started school last week, 26 students and staff members have tested positive, according to the school’s COVID-19 website.
In Durham, the average age of someone who tested positive as of Sunday was 37, according to the county’s COVID-19 website.
About 20% of the COVID-19 cases were tied to people between the ages of 18 and 30, according to the website.
People 18 and under accounted for the second-highest age group with about 16% of the cases.
As of Friday, there were two child care businesses with ongoing COVID 19 clusters in Durham County, according to the Friday DHHS report. Duke Street KinderCare had seven cases and Childcare Network 58 had five.
In addition, there are eight ongoing outbreaks in nursing home. In those facilities, there have been a total of 179 cases in residents and staff members, and 10 people have died from related causes.
At the Durham County jail, seven staff members and 21 inmates have tested positive in an ongoing outbreak, according to the report.
Orange County
At UNC-Chapel Hill, where students have been moving off campus following outbreaks, a total of 1,025 students and employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since February, according to the UNC-CH COVID-19 dashboard that was late updated Friday.
About 45% of the cases in Orange County involved people between the ages of 18 and 24, according to the Orange County COVID-19 website. About 26%, the next highest, involved people between 24 and 49.
As of Friday, Orange County had COVID-19 outbreaks in two nursing homes. In those facilities, there have been a total of six cases in residents and staff.
In addition, two residential care facilities in Orange had outbreaks, with a total of 51 cases and three deaths.
Three staff members at the Orange County jail and one inmate have tested positive in an ongoing outbreak, according to the state.
