Community News

 

ATLANTA, GA – September 23, 2022 – Effective September 23^rd, the CDC has changed their masking recommendation in health care settings. Masking is now recommended if the facilities are in areas of high COVID-19 transmission. COVID-19 Transmission Levels, also called Community Transmission, describe the amount of COVID-19 spread within each county. This updated guidance is newly posted on the agency’s website. These recommendations apply to all doctors, staff, patients  and visitors. Healthcare settings include hospitals, doctor’s offices, nursing homes and home health.

The relaxation of mask-wearing recommendations when indoors were begun in May 2021 for people who had the primary vaccination series. This coincided with a high percentage of people getting vaccinated and the subsequent sharp decrease in COVID-19 cases, severe illnesses and deaths. However, this guidance did not apply to health care facilities.

Masking in health care settings is still recommended in communities regardless of the transmission level under certain circumstances. This includes anyone with respiratory infections including COVID-19, people at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and people who work or live at a housing unit or region with an outbreak of COVID-19. The CDC still recommends mask-wearing in healthcare facilities if there is a strong likelihood of immunocompromised persons being present.

The Community Levels are not the same as Community Transmission. COVID-19 Community Levels are used to measure the impact of COVID-19 on communities and their hospitals in order to develop appropriate public health intervention policy. Having a high community level means that the community exceeds their capacity to take care of any person needing hospital care. Even though the community level may be low, it is important to protect at-risk patients and health care staff from either getting infected with COVID-19 or transmitting the virus to others.

The Buncombe County COVID-19 transmission level is high for the week ending September 29^th. The N95 or KN95 mask offers the best protection. Wear a mask that is well-fitting.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

WARRENTON, NC – September 26, 2022 – On September 24^th, Michael Regan, the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the first Black man to run the agency, met with environmental justice and civil rights leaders in Warren County, North Carolina, to announce the creation of the EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. The new Office will distribute $3 billion in grants to underserved communities burdened by pollution. These funds are from the recent Inflation Reduction Act and support environmental justice.

The timing of this announcement was significant because it represented the forty-year anniversary of a grassroots effort against having a hazardous waste landfill of cancer causing and immune system suppressing chemical waste in their predominantly Black-community in Warren County. This location is widely considered the birthplace of the environmental justice movement where protesters were arrested at the site of a toxic waste dump.

The agency wants to better address the disproportionate harm that climate change and pollution has caused low resource areas and communities of color. This reorganization will make achieving racial equity a bigger factor in developing environmental rules. Environmental justice means that all people including vulnerable populations have an equal right to protection from environmental and health hazards.

Three smaller midlevel offices will be combined into this new high-level office. It will be at the same high administrative level of the air, water and chemical pollution offices. A senate-confirmed leader will report directly to head of the EPA. The staff will be comprised of 200 people spread amongst 10 regional offices, a substantial increase from 55 people.

As told to the New York Times, Dollie Burwell, who was arrested at the Warren County dump in 1982 and is sometimes called the mother of environmental justice, said she saw the creation of the office “as another milestone to those of us who made sacrifices and went to jail, that somebody’s listening.”

North Carolina is presently dealing with numerous environmental pollutants including hog waste, coal ash, arsenic, plastic and Styrofoam debris.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – October 5, 2022 – The CDC reports that the community level for Buncombe County is low for the week ending September 29^th. Most of North Carolina is low although 13 out of 100 counties are at a high community level. Most of the counties in the U.S. are at a low or medium level with only 3% of the counties at a high level. For a community at a low community level, the CDC recommends:

• You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public and take additional precautions.

The Buncombe County COVID-19 metrics are on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard. Data from the week ending on September 28^th indicate:

• There have been 111 cases per 100,000 residents in the last 7 days down 29% from 150 cases the previous week.
• 67% of the total population have received their primary vaccination series. Unchanged the past 8 weeks.
• 66% of people with their primary vaccination series have had at least one booster. This is unchanged over the past 6 weeks.
• The seven-day daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 50 and has decreased by 10 since last week, and of ICU patients is 8 and has increased by 3 from the previous week.

The FDA and the CDC approved a new COVID booster that targets the original virus and the new dominant BA.4 and BA.5 variants. This new booster will replace the previous booster shot that had targeted only the original version of the virus. However, the original vaccine will still be used for persons who have not received the primary vaccination series. The booster shots will be available at the Department of Public Health Coxe Avenue vaccination clinic, pharmacies, community health centers and rural health clinics. Eligible persons 12 years old and up can have the booster. They must be at least 2 months after any prior COVID-19 shots and have had the primary vaccination series. The CDC advises that people who recently had COVID consider delaying their boosters until 3 months after their symptoms started or after a positive COVID test if they were asymptomatic.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home

Vaccination sites and testing sites can be located through the North Carolina and Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour