By Natalie Anderson and Shavonne Potts
news@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The county reported on Tuesday that 11 more residents at the N.C. State Veterans Home, located on the campus of Salisbury VA, have tested positive for COVID-19.

That number is included in the 243 individuals who currently positive of the total 553. And numbers continue rising of those who have recovered, the 11 additional cases contribvuted to the five-case increase since Monday of active cases. The total number of cases on Monday was 535.

Of the 553 total cases, 283 patients have recovered, 27 have died and nine are currently being hospitalized. A total of 202 people at congregate living facilities have tested positive, which represents an increase of 12 since Monday.

The additional positive case in the congregate living facility total lives in Rowan County, but the county has not yet confirmed at which nursing home the person works. County spokesperson TJ Brown said the additional case was reported to be a staff member at a facility in another county, but Rowan County officials want to verify where she works before releasing the name of the nursing home.

The county added a breakdown to its data hub on Tuesday of the four local nursing home outbreaks, which provides numbers for total positive staff members and residents.

State numbers, which are updated Tuesdays and Thursdays, differ slightly from local numbers, which can sometimes occur because the county health department only tracks Rowan residents. The state on Tuesday reported that nine staff members and 34 veterans have tested positive at the N.C. State Veterans Home. But the county is reporting six positive employees and 35 positive veterans.

Currently, four employees and five residents have tested positive at Liberty Commons, which is located at 4412. S. Main St. Additionally, the county reports that only one resident at The Laurels, located at 215 Lash Dr., has tested positive, but the state reports one resident and one employee.

The state reported that 157 people have tested positive at the Citadel, on Julian Road, with 44 being staff members and 113 being residents. The county reports that only 34 of the employees and 112 residents belong to Rowan County.

Of the 27 deaths here, 19 have been at the Citadel of Salisbury, seven at the N.C. State Veterans Home and one individual wasn’t associated with a congregate living facility.

In other COVID-19 statistics:

• Individuals age 65 and older make up the plurality of cases, at 176, and the 51-64 age group has now reached 101 cases. However, ages 36-50 and 18-35 continue to climb — at 128 and 127 cases, respectively. A total of 21 cases are among children younger than 18 years old.
• Of the positive cases, 335 individuals are white, 125 are black or African American, three are Asian, one is American Indian/Alaskan Native, 113 are Hispanic, 62 are unknown and 26 are other.
• Females still make up the majority of positive cases, at 290, while males represent 263 positive cases.
• Zip code 28147, which is where the Citadel nursing home is located, remains the area of the county with the most positive cases, at 241. Next is 28144, a Salisbury zip code, with 151 cases. Zip code 28146, which includes part of Salisbury and a large swath of eastern Rowan, currently has 63 positive cases.