Soul of the Blues

Buncombe County COVID-19 Community Update: COVID-19 Hospitalizations & ICU Admissions Have Increased

ASHEVILLE, NC – On January 25, the Department of Health and Human Services and Public Health Director Stacie Saunders posted the weekly Buncombe County COVID-19 Community Update. She said that “though our case rate is showing a decline right now, our other indicators continue to increase.” 

• There is a decrease in the COVID-19 case rate by 21% this week. Last week it was up by 26%.
• There is an increase in hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths this week. 
• Percent positivity is rising to more than 25%, well above the 5% level, indicative of a high transmission rate.
• COVID-19 patients comprise 15% of inpatient hospital beds including 33% of ICU beds
• 68% of the eligible population are fully vaccinated; almost 55% of the fully vaccinated have received boosters.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Get vaccinated and boosters when eligible. Boosters are shown to provide significant protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death
• Get tested if exposed to someone with COVID-19 or have symptoms
• Stay at home if you are not feeling well, even with a negative Covid test 
• Wear a mask when in public indoor spaces

Vaccination sites, testing sites, free home testing kits, and free high-quality KN95 face masks can be located through the Department of Health and Human Services. The free kits and face masks are available as long as supplies last. A new federal government program allows every home in the U.S. to order 4 free at-home Covid tests. To make a request, go to www.Covidtests.gov. Free N95 masks are available at pharmacies and community health care centers through another federal program.

Listen to the full report here:

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

ASHEVILLE, NC – At the January 5 media Question & Answer session, Buncombe County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders encouraged the use of medical-grade face masks over cloth masks. At the recent January 12 media Question & Answer session, she said that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has recently sent N95 medical-grade face masks to Buncombe County. These masks will be distributed with 5,000 newly arrived home tests kits. Buncombe County will join Milwaukee, New York City, Salt Lake City and Connecticut in giving out free N95 face masks to its residents. 

Wearing a face mask is still considered one of the most important public health measures to lessen the spread of COVID-19. It needs to be worn correctly over the nose and mouth to be effective. In response to the recent surge of infections, the Buncombe County Board extended the face mask policy for indoor public spaces and, on January 14, the CDC posted new guidelines that cloth masks are not as effective as surgical masks or N95 respirators. The agency recommends that  Americans “wear the most protective mask that fits well and that you can wear consistently.” 

An N95 respirator is considered the gold standard of medical-grade face masks for the ability to block 95% of very small particles and 99.8% of smaller particles the size of the COVID-19 virus because of its high filtration capacity and snug facial fit. In contrast, 2-layer cotton masks only stop 40 to 60%. N95s have been also been shown to be the most effective face covering at suppressing the transmission of the more contagious Delta and Omicron strains. In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, the authors write that “the masks are easy to breathe in, and they’re easy to find now, too.” The KN95 mask is a face covering that looks similar to the N95 and is almost as effective. KN95 masks are better than surgical masks and cloth masks.

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

Buncombe County COVID-19 Community Update:

COVID-19 Infection Rate Reach Record High

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

ASHEVILLE, NC – On January 18, the Department of Health and Human Services and Public Health Director Stacie Saunders posted the weekly Buncombe County COVID-19 Community Update. Saunders said that “Omicron is certainly showing us its power to infect our community and communities across the U.S.”

• There is an increase in the COVID-19 case rate, hospitalizations and ICU admissions this week. The case rate is up by 26%. Last week it was up by 40%.
  Percent positivity is rising to 22.9%, well above the 5% level, indicative of a high transmission rate.
  Most new cases are between the ages 25-49; children ages 0-17 have the second largest number of new cases.
  Unvaccinated people represent 77% of hospitalizations and 87% of ICU admissions due to COVID-19 in North Carolina.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Get vaccinated and boosters when eligible
  Get tested if exposed to someone with COVID-19 or have symptoms
  Stay at home if you are not feeling well, even with a negative Covid test
  Wear a mask when in public indoor spaces

Vaccination sites, testing sites, and home testing kits can be located through the Department of Health and Human Services. A new federal government policy allows every home in the U.S. to order 4 free at-home Covid tests. To make a request, go to www.Covidtests.gov.

Listen below to the recorded report: