By Natalie Anderson and Shavonne Potts
news@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — As the local COVID-19 case count reached 392 on Monday, county public health officials confirmed four additional cases at the Liberty Commons nursing home, one of four congregate living facilities here with an outbreak.

The case count of 392 in Rowan County comes after 2,570 tests have been conducted. Of the positive cases, 25 have died, 14 are currently hospitalized and 110 have recovered. Statewide, 11,848 individuals have tested positive of the 146,439 tests conducted. Additionally, 430 individuals have died and 498 are currently hospitalized across the state.

Liberty Commons, located at 4412 S. Main St., has two positive staff members and four positive patients, said county spokesman T.J. Brown. Roughly one week ago, the Liberty Commons outbreak, which is defined by two or more positive cases, was first confirmed when the staff members tested positive.

It was the third congregate living facility to have an outbreak. The other facilities are the N.C. State Veteran’s Home, located on the Hefner VA Medical Center campus; the Citadel of Salisbury, located on Julian Road; and the Laurels of Salisbury, located at 215 Lash Dr.

Of the 25 COVID-19 deaths, 17 have been from the Citadel, seven have been from the N.C. State Veteran’s Home and one was not associated with a congregate living facility, with an average age of 84 among the deaths.

Rowan County continues to have more total COVID-19 cases, active cases and deaths than all of its neighboring counties. It’s in the top six for positive cases across the state and in a similar position for number of deaths.

County public health officials urge citizens to continue wearing masks in public, as “face masks protect us all.”

In other COVID-19 statistics:

• Individuals aged 65 and older make up the plurality of cases at 150. A total of 80 cases are in the 51-64 age range, 77 are aged 36-50, 77 are aged 18-35 and eight are younger than 18 years old.
• Of the positive cases, 260 individuals are white, 108 are black or African American, three are Asian, one is American Indian/Alaskan Native, 52 are Hispanic, 13 are unknown and seven are other.
• Females still make up the majority of positive cases, at 222, while males represent 170 positive cases.
• Zip code 28147 remains the area of the county with the most positive cases, at 176, which is where the Citadel nursing home is located. Next is 28144, a Salisbury zip code, with 89 cases. Zip code 28146, which includes part of Salisbury and a large swath of eastern Rowan, currently has 50 positive cases.

Contact reporter Natalie Anderson at 704-797-4246.