By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — After 59 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Monday, 28% of all cases are currently positive in Rowan County.

With triple-digit increases coming at a rapid pace of late, Monday’s new positives were the lowest since Nov. 30. Rowan County health officials now report a total of 7,828 cases since March, with 2,207 of those currently positive and 5,464 recoveries. The average age among all positive cases is 43.9 years old.

Deaths remain at 157, with all but 65 among local congregate care facilities.

A total of 21 Rowan Countians are being hospitalized for COVID-19.

Health officials have urged families to avoid in-person gatherings this year for Christmas and New Year’s Eve as cases are expected to surge following the holidays. But if families do gather, it’s recommended to host no more than 10 people at a gathering and continue practicing the three Ws of wearing a mask, waiting 6 feet apart and washing hands. It’s also recommended that people get tested 1-3 days before traveling, and to self-isolate for at least seven days after traveling just in case.

For the remainder of the week, Rowan Countians can be tested at the following locations:

• FastMed Clinic, 1361 Klumac Road, Salisbury
Insurance is billed; for non-insured individuals, the cost is $199 for both COVID-19 and antibody testing. No appointment needed.

• CVS, 1924 Statesville Blvd, Salisbury
Appointment must be scheduled online at cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-assessment. No testing offered on Christmas Day.

• Novant Health Rowan, 1904 W. Jake Alexander Blvd., Salisbury
Call 704-210-7845 for an appointment. Testing criteria may apply. No testing offered Thursday or Friday.

• W. G. Hefner VA Medical Center, 1601 Brenner Ave., Salisbury
Will only test veterans. Testing criteria may apply. No testing offered on Christmas Day.

Also on Monday, state health officials reported 4,479 new cases, which totals 483,647 cases after 6.42 million completed tests. Monday’s daily percent positive rate is 11%, but the overall rate is 7.5%. A total of 2,817 North Carolinians are currently being hospitalized while 6,240 have died.

Of those, the state reports 403,488, or 83.4%, of those cases have recovered.

The latest state demographic data, updated Monday, shows that Hispanic as well as American Indian/Alaskan Native North Carolinians are disproportionately impacted by the virus as they comprise 25% and 2% of all cases, respectively, despite only making up 9% and 1.6% of the state population, respectively. A total of 21% of cases are among Black North Carolinians, while white North Carolinians comprise 62% of cases and Asian North Carolinians comprise 2% of all cases.

Three quarters, or 75%, of all cases are among those aged older than 25 years old, with the 25-49 age bracket comprising the plurality at 40%.

The Triad region, which includes Rowan County, still makes up the plurality, or 817, of all hospitalizations across the state. That region is currently using 487 ICU beds, 3,721 inpatient hospital beds and 277 ventilators.

Also on Monday, the CDC reported an additional 197,616 cases of COVID-19, totaling 17.8 million across the U.S. since January. A total of 316,844 Americans have died of COVID-19.