LUMBERTON — The number of COVID-19 cases in Robeson County saw a marginal increase over the last two weeks.
The Robeson County Health Department reported 98 new cases in the 14-day period between April 19 and May 2, which is 7.00 cases per day. In the previous reporting period, the seven-day period from April 12-18, there were 44 cases reported, or 6.29 per day.
The department has typically issued a report on virus statistics in the county each Monday, but did not last week, resulting in the 14-day reporting period this week.
There have been 43,146 total virus cases in Robeson County since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
No virus-related deaths were reported, continuing a streak of six consecutive weeks without a virus-related death in Robeson County. The county’s pandemic death toll remains at 523.
Robeson County remains in the green category, for low transmission, on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s transmission map, according to county Health Department Director Bill Smith; hospital usage “remains stable” locally, he said.
“The only negative factor is that the wastewater surveys have found that the amount of viral load has doubled over the previous week,” Smith said. “This would indicate that more virus is in the population. Survey sites are located throughout the state with the closest being Laurinburg. Being vaccinated and boosted remains the best preventive measure. With treatment available upon testing positive and being symptomatic, hospitals should not be strained.”
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke reports six active virus cases among its student body on campus as of late Monday, with two cases among its faculty and staff and none among subcontractors, as of late Monday. There have been 10 student-body cases, four among faculty and staff and none among subcontractors in the two weeks since April 19.
There have been 205 student-body cases, 136 among faculty and staff and 20 among subcontractors during the spring semester.
In other virus-related news, more timely access to death certificate data through a new electronic reporting system is giving North Carolinians a more comprehensive picture of COVID-19-related deaths, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.
With the ability to access death certificate data electronically, NCDHHS identified 1,146 additional deaths that occurred between Jan. 1, 2022 and March 31, 2022, with COVID-19 noted as the cause on the death certificate and with a positive COVID-19 test. These deaths will be added to North Carolina’s COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday, pushing the total deaths for the pandemic to more than 24,000. Data continues to show North Carolina has the lowest per capita rates of COVID-19 deaths in the Southeast and ranks among the lowest in the nation.
Until now, deaths on North Carolina’s COVID-19 dashboard have been reported through physicians or hospitals and through case investigation by local health departments. The North Carolina Database Application for Vital Events began accepting death certificate data electronically on Jan. 1, and it is now available sooner and will be linked with data in the COVID-19 reporting system every month. Prior to NCDAVE, North Carolina was one of the last two states that still relied on paper death certificates. The paper certificates were filed manually, weren’t available for months and therefore couldn’t be linked with the COVID-19 reporting system.
“The electronic reporting system will help us identify deaths more systematically and better track the impact of COVID-19 over time,” said Dr. ClarLynda Williams-DeVane, director of the State Center for Health Statistics. “Beyond COVID-19, SCHS relies on death reporting for the tracking of cause-of-death information and identification of significant trends in public health.”
The primary purpose of NCDAVE is to enable the people who provide decedent fact-of-death and cause-of-death information — funeral homes, medical certifiers, including providers, and medical examiners — to file death records electronically with local registrars within the required reporting period after the death occurs. It also eliminates the need for physical handling and transfer of paper certificates. Further, NCDAVE allows for the more timely state registration and certification of death records, reducing the registration time from three to six months to five to 10 days.
Vaccines and boosters remain the best protection against death from COVID-19. They are also effective in reducing severe illness, hospitalization and long COVID. More information on vaccines, boosters and where to get one is available at myspot.nc.gov.
