****UPDATE: The first county death has since been identified as a resident of PruittHealth – Carolina Point, which is a site of the county’s largest reported outbreak. The resident was in their 70s and lived in Hospice Care.****

Orange County reported its first COVID-19 death on Thursday, according to state health officials.

In its daily report of statewide cases and deaths, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services listed one coronavirus-related death in Orange County. The number of reported cases in the county rose from 81 to 98, one of its largest single-day increases since the department began tracking cases.

The news comes less than a day after the Orange County Health Department confirmed two long-term care facilities in the county have outbreaks of COVID-19. PruittHealth – Carolina Point, which is located on the Durham-Orange county line, has more than 60 positive cases, while Signature HealthCARE in Chapel Hill has reported three.

County officials said seven of the cases at Carolina Point were currently hospitalized and two deaths at the facility from coronavirus-related symptoms have already occurred. Both deaths were of Durham County residents and do not county toward Orange County’s total.

The county first reported it had cases on March 20, when it shared four residents had tested positive. At the time, the residents were in isolation recovering at their homes.

To track all of the cases being reported in Orange County, and across the state, visit Chapelboro’s Tracking COVID-19 web page.

Photo via AP Photo/Brian Inganga.

 

Note: 97.9 The Hill has been Chapel Hill and Orange County’s daily source for free local news since 1953. Please consider making a contribution to continue supporting important local journalism like this.

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