News

County's covid death toll third highest in state, mortality rate highest

By Lightning Reports, Published: May 28, 2020

The latest covid-19 update for Henderson County shows a larger percentage of cases outside long-term care facilities than had previously been the trend. State reporting shows Henderson County with the third highest number of deaths in the state among 100 counties.

The latest count on the covid-19 dashboard of the county Public Health Department shows 324 total cases, 224 of which are associated with a nursing home or residential care facility. The 100 cases outside of those facilities represent a growing share of the total, at 31 percent, compared to 16 percent on May 5.

The county also reports 46 deaths — 97.8 percent of which were people 60 and older. The county's covid-19 death toll is the third highest in the state and its mortality rate, at 14 percent, is the highest in the state, according to the Lightning's review of the state Department of Health and Human Services statistics.

Meckleburg had 3,478 cases and 80 deaths, for a mortality rate of 2.3 percent. Guilford County had 1,101 cases and 54 deaths, for a mortality rate of 4.9 percent. Durham County, with 1,359 cases, reported 44 deaths, a mortality rate of 3.2 percent. Buncombe County reported 279 cases and 16 deaths, a mortality rate of 5.7 percent. Statewide, there are 25,412 cases and 827 deaths, for a mortality rate of 3.25 percent.