SALISBURY — Corriher-Lipe Middle School on Tuesday became the site of Rowan County’s first COVID-19 cluster.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said in its biweekly update the middle school in Landis has seven positive cases that are plausibly linked. Other schools in RSS have seen five or more cases at one time, the requirement for a cluster, but they have not been linked to one another.

As of Friday, Rowan-Salisbury Schools had 21 students positive and 12 employees positive. The cluster at Corriher-Lipe is one of more than 50 in the state

Overall, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 40 new positives in Rowan County on Tuesday — an improvement of two from the day before. Tuesday’s data update also showed total of 1,178 COVID-19 positives in the previous 14 days. There were no new deaths reported and few changes among congregate living outbreaks.

While Rowan County continues to see improving numbers of positives reported, it has seen more cases per capita in the previous 14 days than any of its immediate neighbors. With Rowan at 829 positives per 100,000 residents, Davie County is closest at 791.

Unlike positives, the county made better progress in the previous week than some of its neighbors in vaccines administered per capita. As of Tuesday, 12,722 Rowan residents have received a first dose, an increase of 793 from the previous day. Additionally, 5,122 local residents have received a second dose, an increase of 223 from the previous day.

State data show 8.95% of Rowan residents have received a first dose and 3.6% have received a second dose. For first doses, Rowan is 0.01% better than Davidson County and 0.53% better than Cabarrus County.

About 42% of people 75 or older and 37% 65 or older in the county have received a first dose. County health officials advise people who can be vaccinated now to do so before the state next week moves into phase three, which includes educators. On Tuesday evening, there were still appointments available for the Rowan County Health Department’s first-dose clinic on Thursday at West End Plaza. People can sign up or get more information about the clinics by visiting rowancountync.gov/1671/first-dose-clinics.

In Rowan County’s hospital region, the Triad Healthcare Preparedness Coalition, there were 490 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday. Of those, 54 had been admitted in the previous 24 hours. Across the state, hospitalization are trending downward; 1,958 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Statewide, there were 1,988 newly reported positives Tuesday in addition to 826,340 total positives, 765,456 recoveries and 10,562 total deaths.