LUMBERTON — After Robeson County suffered its deadliest week of the COVID-19 pandemic this past week, the number of deaths dropped by more than half this week.

The Robeson County Health Department reported nine virus-related deaths in the seven-day period from Jan. 16 to Friday. While this is still tied for the third most deaths in the county during a seven-day period, it is a sharp decline from this past week’s record of 20 deaths.

There have been 186 virus-related deaths in the county since the pandemic began.

Robeson County had 1,033 new cases reported from Jan. 16 to Friday, up from 968 during the period Jan. 9-15.

There have now been 13,333 cases of the novel coronavirus in Robeson County. This means the county has surpassed the mark of one in 10 residents having contracted the virus at some point in the 10 months since the county’s first confirmed case on March 21, 2020.

As of Tuesday, 5,147 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Robeson County, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Nearly half of those, 2,547, were administered between the state health agency’s Jan. 12 report and Tuesday’s report.

Both doses of the vaccine have been administered to 612 county residents, but only 149 second doses were administered between Jan. 12 and Tuesday.

Vaccinations are continuing at UNC Health Southeastern’s two vaccination sites and at the Health Department. Patients should see agency information sites to find out whether or not walk-ins are accepted or appointments are required, county Health Department Director Bill Smith said.

All health care workers, funeral home staff, long-term care staff and people age 65 and older remain the populations eligible for vaccination at this time, Smith said. But vaccine supplies remain low.

“While the original plan had essential workers being phased in this week, the inclusion of the 65-plus crowd changed all time lines,” Smith said. “Changes in populations served are dependent upon vaccine availability. The state is receiving the same amount as when the activity began. Again, there is no known date for inclusion of the essential worker class into the vaccination mode. Public notice will be provided in advance of any changes.”

Robeson County remains red, which means at critical community spread, in the state’s county alert system as of Tuesday, the most recent report available on Friday. Eighty-six of North Carolina’s 100 counties are categorized as red, including every county in the Sandhills region around Robeson County. Thirteen are categorized as orange, substantial community spread. And Greene County, a rural county southwest of Greenville, is the only county in the state to register as yellow, significant community spread.

UNC Health Southeastern had 40 virus-positive patients in isolation at its hospital as of 11 a.m. Friday, with no additional potential positives under investigation. This is down from from 48 on Jan. 15.

There are 20 UNC Health Southeastern employees quarantined because of potential exposure, down from 33 on Jan. 15 and 44 on Jan. 8.

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, which delayed the start of its second semester to Feb. 1, reported Friday there are four active cases among students on campus, four among faculty and staff, and one among subcontractors.

The state health agency reported 45,695 new cases in North Carolina between Jan. 16 and Friday, down from 57,066 in the seven-day period ending Jan. 15. This brings the total number of cases in the state since the pandemic began to 705,535.

There were 531 virus-related deaths reported in North Carolina between Jan. 16 and Friday, down from 605 over the previous seven-day period, bringing the state’s pandemic death total to 8,464.

There were 3,512 virus-related hospitalizations in the state as of Friday, 404 less than the 3,916 reported on Jan. 15.

The NCDHHS reported Tuesday that 424,774 first doses of the vaccine have been administered in the state, with 185,930 of them administered between Jan. 13 and Tuesday. Of those, 76,293 people have received their second dose, including 32,022 between Jan. 13 and Tuesday.

The pandemic’s death toll in the United States surpassed 400,000 earlier this week.