ELIZABETHTOWN — Schools in Bladen County on the state’s coronavirus cluster list dropped from eight to three in this week’s report.

Gone from the report are Emereau: Bladen Charter School, West Bladen and East Bladen high schools, Bladenboro Middle, and Bladenboro Primary. Still on the list are Elizabethtown Primary, and Elizabethtown and Tar Heel middle schools.

The news is welcome and continues the improving trend in Bladen County. The number of active cases on Wednesday’s report from the county Health Department was down to 54, and there was a zero for hospitalizations.

In October, there have been two fatalities connected to COVID-19, 148 positive tests and 200 recoveries. This contrasts significantly to September’s 19 deaths and 552 positive tests, and before that, August (17 deaths, 964 positive tests) had eclipsed January (10 deaths, 765 positive tests) as the worst month of the virus in Bladen County. In the 106 days from June 22 to Oct. 5, the county recorded 50 deaths.

Since the pandemic began, Bladen has had 94 deaths, 5,433 positive tests and 5,285 recoveries.

Statewide through Wednesday, DHHS reported 1,811 hospitalizations. Since the pandemic began, DHHS has recorded 17,640 deaths and 1,457,798 positive tests.

Neither the state nor county adjust test numbers for false positives.

On the weekly state Department of Health and Human Services reports released Tuesday for outbreaks and clusters, where numbers are cumulative from varying points and do not indicate active, there was one change on the outbreak list and all other entities stayed the same as the previous week.

For outbreaks:

• Elizabethtown Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center, three cases among staff, no residents.

• Bladen East Health and Rehab, nine cases among staff, no residents. That’s up six from last week.

For clusters:

• Elizabethtown Primary School, three cases among staff, two students.

• Elizabethtown Middle School, two cases among staff, three students.

• Tar Heel Middle School, no cases among staff, five students.

Vaccinations remain strongly encouraged. They are available, as are booster shots for those eliligible, at the county Health Department and at Bladen County Hospital. Testing is also available.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health conditions, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on its website Monday morning, says Bladen County has 43.8 percent (14,329) of the total population fully vaccinated and 51.6 percent (16,898) partially vaccinated. These numbers jumped significantly from earlier in the week; on Monday morning, the CDC said Bladen County had 32.6 percent (10,654) of the total population fully vaccinated and 41.5 percent (13,595) partially vaccinated.

Bladen and all 98 other counties in the state remain listed as red, or showing a high level of community transmission. The period measured is Oct. 13 to Tuesday for case rate, and Oct. 11 to Sunday for percent positivity.

According to the coronavirus tracker of Johns Hopkins University, available on BladenJournal.com, more than 45.2 million confirmed cases and 731,000 deaths are counted in the U.S. The second-highest case total is in India, with more than 34.1 million.

There have been more than 242.2 million cases worldwide, with more than 4.9 million deaths.

This story authored by Alan Wooten of the Bladen Journal. Contact him at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com.