By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — One resident and one employee at Liberty Commons nursing home are among 14 new cases of COVID-19 in the county as of Thursday, bringing the total number of cases at the nursing home to six.

Liberty Commons is among four nursing homes with an outbreak of COVID-19. The other three include the Citadel, on Julian Road; N.C. State Veteran’s Home; and the Laurels of Salisbury, located at 215 Lash Drive.

Of the 26 COVID-19 deaths locally, 18 have been from the Citadel nursing home, seven have been from the N.C. State Veteran’s Home and one was not associated with a congregate living facility. The average age is 83 among the deaths compared to an average age of 52.6 among all cases.

The county says 200 cases are associated with congregate living facilities like nursing homes, with the Citadel making up the majority of those.

The 510 cases in the county have occurred with at least 2,949 tests conducted as 11 are currently being hospitalized.

Recoveries continue to rise and are currently at 240.

A total of 49 positive patients have been hospitalized over the course of the entire outbreak locally, with an average age of 66 among them.

Statewide, a total of 16,507 cases have been confirmed after 219,268 completed tests. A total of 615 individuals have died across the state, and 507 are currently being hospitalized.

A breakdown of cases in each municipality in the county shows Salisbury with the most cases, at 276. The next-highest amount, 171, includes cases in unincorporated areas of the county.

The county’s Public Health Command Center encourages individuals who reside in shared living spaces such as apartments, condos, student or faculty housing, traditional housing and domestic violence and abuse shelters to review the CDC’s guidelines for managing living in close quarters with others. The CDC has offered a guide for cleaning and disinfecting these common shared spaces as well as considerations for shared housing in general. 

In other COVID-19 statistics:

• Individuals age 65 and older make up the plurality of cases, at 160, and the 51-64 age group has now reached 100 cases. However, ages 36-50 and 18-35 continue to climb at 119 and 115 cases, respectively. A total of 16 cases are among children younger than 18 years old.
• Of the positive cases, 319 individuals are white, 121 are black or African American, three are Asian, one is American Indian/Alaskan Native, 108 are Hispanic, 41 are unknown and 25 are other.
• Females still make up the majority of positive cases, at 275, while males represent 235 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 230. Next is 28144, a Salisbury zip code, with 126 cases. Zip code 28146, which includes part of Salisbury and a large swath of eastern Rowan, currently has 62 positive cases.

Contact reporter Natalie Anderson at 704-797-4246.