The majority of North Carolina counties — including Surry — in recent weeks have been moved into the “high transmission” category of COVID-19, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Only Ashe and Watauga counties, in the extreme northwest corner of the state, are still considered low-transmission counties.
The high-transmission figure is up from 50 counties a week ago, and has been climbing steadily as a new, but slower-moving wave, of COVID has spread across the nation while new variants of the virus continue emerging.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) combines a number of factors when determining if a county is low, medium, or high-transmission, and that designation can change from week to week. Among those are emergency visits for COVID symptoms, hospital admissions for COVID patients, the total number of confirmed cases reported by date, the number of confirmed variants in a community, and other factors.
“If we look at the percent of positive cases in reference to the amount of testing being done, Surry County currently has an approximate 33% positivity rate,” said Maggie Simmons, assistant health director for the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center.
Overall, there have been 23,322 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Surry County since the pandemic began, with 363 deaths.
While health professionals had hoped initially that contracting the virus would offer some level of immunity, it appears some area residents are contracting the coronavirus more than once.
“We do not track how many times a person has been infected with COVID-19, but there is evidence of Surry County residents contracting the virus multiple times,” Simmons said.
Robin Hodgin, senior vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer at Northern Regional Hospital, said the facility there has treated people who have been infected with the virus twice, and in some cases even a third time.
While local case numbers are again rising, Hodgin said the hospital has not been overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients as it had been in several earlier waves.
Friday morning, she said of the 93 patients being hospitalized at the facility, 13 were suffering from COVID-19. One of the ICU beds was being used for a COVID patient, while two in the step-down unit were being used. Over the past couple of weeks, she said the average daily number of inpatients suffering from coronavirus has been around 13.
That has meant the hospital has not had delays in moving patients from the Emergency Department to regular in-patient rooms, as had been the case earlier. However, she said because some other hospitals in the region are experiencing high case counts, occasionally patients needing transfer from Northern have been experiencing delays.
Simmons, with the health department, said it is not clear if this will become the new normal — living with wave after wave of coronavirus, or if there will eventually be a way to temper its affect on society.
“We understand that for the past two years, COVID-19 has been a constant problem; however, the virus is still so new that we cannot yet forecast what the future will be in terms of COVID-19 cases, mitigation strategies, and response.”
For now, she said, when a county has a high transmission rate, as Surry County does, the standard cautions still apply.
”Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status,” she said. “Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters; maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible; follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19.”
Regardless of local transmission rates, she said some folks should take extra precautions.
“If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease: Wear a mask, avoid non-essential indoor public activities, talk with your healthcare provider about additional recommended precautions.”
Simmons said the Surry County Health and Nutrition Center is still offering no-cost testing at their facility, located at 118 Hamby Road in Dobson.
“There is PCR and rapid testing available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. We are also working with local partners to develop additional no-cost testing sites throughout the county, more information to come as those locations are secured.”
For at-home testing, she said the center “has a limited supply of free test kits for anyone interested. We encourage residents to claim the free test kits provided by the Federal Government at www.covid.gov/tests”
Monkeypox
A second viral disease, monkeypox, has grabbed national headlines as that disease has begun popping up around the world.
As of Friday, Simmons said there have been 20 confirmed cases of the virus in North Carolina, none in Surry County. Thus far the closest confirmed case has been one in Guilford County.
“NC DHHS is keeping us updated as the situation changes,” Simmons said. “There is a vaccine for certain individuals who are at highest risk for having been exposed, and should someone be concerned, they can reach out to us and we will connect them with available resources.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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