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Polk adds another 18 COVID-19 cases this week

POLK COUNTY—Polk County is up to 296 cases of COVID-19 as of Friday.

The county added another 18 cases this week, up from 278 cases last Friday, according to Polk County health officials.

The county also added another death this week, with a total of 8 deaths, up from 7 last Friday.

Polk County has completed a total of 5,229 tests, with 296 positive and 4,825 negative. The county presumes that of the positive cases, 255 have recovered, including 8 deaths there are 33 current active cases in the county.

This week was an increase of 6.1 percent in positive cases. There are also currently 32 tests pending.

Of the cases, there have been 30 patients in the hospital, according to the county’s latest figures.

Of the county’s positive cases, 53.04 percent have been female and 46.96 percent have been male.

Most of the positive cases have been in people age 65 and older at more than 100 of the county’s cases. Around 80 of the county’s cases have been in people age 25-49; about 60 of the cases have been in people age 50-64; about 25 cases have been in people age 0-17 and more than 20 cases have been in people age 18-24, according to the county’s latest data.

As of Friday morning, North Carolina had 180,754 lab-confirmed cases and had completed 2,521,839 tests, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Buncombe County had 2,685 cases and 72 deaths; Henderson County had 1,780 cases and 60 deaths; Rutherford County had 1,033 cases and 20 deaths and Transylvania County had 283 cases and 6 deaths.

Polk County is offering free testing at various sites, including at the Polk County Health Department in Columbus. The tests are drive-through. To schedule an appointment or to find out more information about testing call 828-722-5086 and leave a message and someone will return your call.