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As the pandemic continues to worsen in North Carolina, with record numbers of new cases popping up seemingly every few days, cases and hospitalizations continue to increase in Stanly County.

With an additional 39 cases reported on Thursday, the county now has 3,150 cumulative cases while 81 people have died as as result of the coronavirus, according to data from the county health department. There are currently 15 people hospitalized, the highest total since late October.

Stanly has 301 active cases and 2,768 people who had the virus have recovered. Almost 21,000 residents have been tested.

Stanly’s positivity rate, which is the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive, is 8.7 percent, which, while high and still concerning, is lower than the state’s average of 10.1 percent.

A majority of the cases, 2,181, have been transmitted through human to human contact, while 672 have been transmitted through community spread.

The health department reported five outbreaks in the county: The Albemarle Correctional Institution, which has had 425 cumulative cases, including 26 active cases, and three deaths, Stanly Manor, which has 75 cases and six deaths, Bethany Woods, Spring Arbor and Premier Services of the Carolinas.

Stanly County Schools reported that from Nov. 19-25, 18 students and four staff members were infected with the virus. Pfeiffer University has reported six active cases as of Thursday.

Albemarle continues to lead the county with more than 1,371 cases and 60 deaths, followed by New London with 650 cases and six deaths, Norwood with roughly 325 cases and five deaths, Locust with 242 cases and Oakboro with 208 cases and four deaths, according to DHHS data.

With regards to the state’s color-coded alert system it unveiled a few weeks ago, Stanly remains yellow, which indicates significant community spread. Two of its neighboring counties, though, are worse: Cabarrus is orange, which indicates substantial community spread while Montgomery is red, which is critical community spread.

On Thursday, the state had 5,637 new cases, the first time it has crossed the 5,000 mark. Statewide, there have been more than 5.4 million tests conducted in the state resulting in 377,231. cases as of Friday. A total of 2,101 people are hospitalized, while 5,410 people have died.

Across the country, more than 14 million people have been infected while at least 275,000 have died. Roughly 100,000 people are currently hospitalized.

The demographics continue to stay relatively constant in Stanly, with people ages 25 to 49 being the group most likely to contract the virus (40 percent of all cases) followed by those ages 50 to 64 (24 percent). Children younger than 17 and those ages 18-24 account for 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

White people account for the majority of cases in Stanly at 67 percent followed by Black people with 14 percent of cases, according to data from the health department. Race listed as “unknown” accounts for 15 percent of cases while those with Hispanic ethnicity make up 9 percent of cases.

Of the total number of cases in the county, about 23 percent (684) have come from people living in congregate living facilities.

If people want to schedule an appointment at the Stanly County Health Department drive-in testing site in Albemarle, they can call 704-982-9171. Testing is available at no cost.

If they want to schedule an appointment at the OptumServe drive-in testing site in Locust, they can call 877-562-4851. Testing is also available at no cost.