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 13th. The CDC website reports that it is severely increasing for the time period ending April 19th. 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 1st 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, healthyasheville@ashevillefm.org