TAMPA, FL – April 18, 2022 – The CDC recently extended the mask mandate for airplanes, other forms of indoor public transportation and transportation hubs to May 3^rd in order to allow some more time to study the rise in the latest subvariant of the coronavirus called BA.2. The mask mandate was due to expire two weeks earlier on April 18^th. This was the 5^th extension. It was begun on January 29, 2021, shortly after President Biden took office in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. The virus has been shown to be spread in the air through small droplets and particles that contain the virus. However, many air plane company CEO’s have disagreed with these guidelines because of the sharp fall of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. They feel that the mask rollback in other indoor settings like restaurants and stores should apply to the air plane sector because they feel that effective air filters on their planes make viral transmission unlikely. Last month, the Senate passed a resolution against this extension. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss) said, “The testimony we’ve had in the Commerce Committee, from the airline industry and from scientists is that the airline air is the safest air that Americans can breathe indoors, anywhere.”

On April 18^th, a federal judge in Florida, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled against a national mask mandate for airplanes and other forms of public transportation. Therefore, the Transportation Security Administration said that it will no longer enforce the mask mandate. Numerous airlines, rail and car carriers, and some airports have stopped requiring passengers to wear masks. Many medical and public health experts are upset about this ruling because it puts immunosuppressed people and children under 5-years-old at-risk to get sick with COVID-19. President Biden is disappointed in this judicial decision because he supports the latest CDC extension to continue mandates during a public health crises. The CDC feels that the mask mandate is still necessary on planes and other public transit in order to protect the public health prompting the Department of Justice to appeal the federal court decision ruling against the mandate. Dr. Robert Wachter, the chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco medical school, said “If this becomes a precedent, that a judge can overrule government and the CDC experts, that puts us in a problematic place for the next surge, the next pandemic, bioterrorism or who knows.”

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

RALEIGH, NC- April 1, 2022 – Governor Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 256 on April 1^st to continue to support the ability of the state to respond to a potential surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, by maintaining the capacitance of the public health system. This measure provides easier access to vaccines, tests and treatments as well as the flexible credentialing of health care workers and care facilities. He has extended his previous pandemic-related executive orders until July 15^th.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) recently modified its key COVID-19 metrics and includes wastewater surveillance data, vaccination and booster rates, prevalence of variants across the state, and data on community spread from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, COVID-19 cases, associated hospitalizations, and other key COVID-19 metrics are in decline including transmission and severity of disease and hospital burden.

“While we have turned the corner on this pandemic, we must continue to make sure that tests, vaccines, and treatments are widely available and that we remain prepared for the potential of future surges,” said Governor Cooper. “The measures in this Executive Order are essential to North Carolina’s continued response to this virus.”

The Order extends provisions giving the NCDHHS Secretary flexibility to take actions to increase the health care workforce and to ensure continuity of existing operations in the state’s hospitals, adult care homes, nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities. The Order also extends direction for the State Health Director to issue statewide standing orders to facilitate testing, vaccination, and the administration of therapeutic treatments, including monoclonal antibody treatments and newly authorized therapeutic treatments.

Republicans in the General Assembly, meanwhile, are urging Democrat governor to move on from the pandemic. All Republicans in the House of Representatives penned a letter to the Governor advising him to end the government’s pandemic orders. The letter was dated the same day Cooper officially lifted mask mandates for state government agencies in his cabinet, though some agency heads retain authority to mandate masks in “high risk” settings, such as long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and health care settings. State Republicans failed to override Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 173 which would have made masks optional in schools statewide.

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

ASHEVILLE, NC – April 20, 2022 – Buncombe County COVID-19 metrics are on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard. Data from the week ending on April 20 indicate:

• There are 94 cases per 100,000 residents in the last 7 days up 57% from the previous week.
• 66% of the total population have received their full primary vaccination series. This is unchanged for about 2 months
• 60% of people with full primary vaccination series have had at least one booster
• COVID-19 hospitalizations are unchanged over the past week and ICU patients are less than over the previous week.
• The CDC reports that the risk level for Buncombe County is low for the week ending April 21.
• Wastewater surveillance may provide an early warning before individual testing shows that COVID-19 is spreading. The state dashboard reports that the 15-day rate of change of viral load for the Metropolitan Sewer District for Buncombe County is severely increasing for the time period ending April 13^th. The CDC website reports that it is severely increasing for the time period ending April 19^th. According to the CDC website, “When levels of the virus in wastewater are low, a modest increase in virus level can appear much larger when you look at the percent change. This metric may be affected by how often wastewater plants collect samples or by environmental factors (such as rainfall).”

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Get vaccinated and boosted when eligible.
• People with any COVID symptoms or exposure to someone with COVID 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.

Save your face masks:

• The risk level may rise with a new variant
• A person at high risk for severe illness should speak with their health care provider
• Mask wearing is recommended for persons with a positive test, having symptoms, or exposure to someone with COVID-19
• Governor Cooper’s executive order on March 1^st says that agencies may require everyone to wear a mask in “high risk” settings like health care facilities, nursing homes, correctional facilities and homeless shelters.

Listen to the full report below:

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