ROCKINGHAM — Since Thursday, Oct. 15, the Richmond County Health Department has reported 152 new cases of COVID-19, which is the largest increase over any 6-day span since the pandemic began.

The Health Department tracks the progress of the virus based on weeks beginning on Mondays and ending on Saturdays. Last week, beginning Oct. 12 and ending Oct. 17, was previously the second worst week behind the week of Sept. 7 – Sept. 12 when there were 106 cases. But with 92 cases already reported between Oct. 19 and 21st, this week is likely to surpass that record.

Over the past six weeks (Sept. 14 to Oct. 17), Richmond County has averaged 73.8 new cases each week, with the lowest count for a week being 66 from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3. This is up from the previous six weeks (Aug. 3 to Sept. 12) which had an average of 60.5 new cases each week. The week with the lowest total of new cases over this period was the week of Aug. 3 – Aug. 8, which had 30.

Richmond County has topped 90 new cases in a week three times in the last six weeks: 91 for the week ending Sept. 19, 93 for the week ending Oct. 10 and 100 for the week ending Oct. 17. The county only surpassed 90 once in the previous six weeks when it reached 106 new cases in the week ending Sept. 12.

On Monday, Richmond County reported 42 new cases, breaking the previous single day record of new cases set on Sept. 21 when there were 36 new cases.

According to data from the DHHS, over the past 14 days Richmond County recorded 54 cases per 10,000 residents, and 247 new cases reported in the last 14 days.

For comparison, Richmond and Scotland both have had infection rates worse than Mecklenburg and Wake counties. While both Mecklenburg and Wake have much higher total cases and deaths, Mecklenburg has seen 22 cases per 10,000 people over the last 14 days, and Wake has seen 13 per 10,000 people over that same period. Scotland has seen 63 cases per 10,000 people over the last 14 days, according to NCDHHS.

These new heights of COVID-19 cases are due in part to twin outbreaks at the Hermitage Retirement Center and Morrison Correctional Institution, in addition to Governor Roy Cooper relaxing restrictions on businesses. As of Wednesday, there are 54 active COVID-19 cases at Morrison. Hermitage has stayed at 14 total cases since last Friday, and has not reported any deaths.

“It’s gotten so widespread its almost impossible to trace it back to where they got it from,” Health Direct Tommy Jarrell told the Daily Journal Friday, when the county reported 32 new cases. “It’s becoming very challenging. The take-home message is for everyone to really practice preventative measures, keep social distancing … not only to protect ourselves but to protect other people because you may not know that you’ve been exposed.”

Jarrell added that he thinks we’ve hit the “second wave” of COVID-19 that experts anticipated when the pandemic first hit.

There were 53 virus-related deaths North Carolina reported on Tuesday, the highest single-day total during the pandemic, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that Wednesday was the first time this month the state reported that the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive surpassed 7% on consecutive days.

Gavin Stone

News Editor