ASHEVILLE, NC – October 26, 2022 – The CDC reports that the community level for Buncombe County is low for the week ending October 24th. All of North Carolina is low with all 100 counties at a low community level. Most of the counties in the U.S. are at a low level with less than 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 October 22nd indicate:
- There have been 75 cases per 100,000 residents in the last 7 days down 18% from the previous week.
- 67% of the total population have received their primary vaccination series. Unchanged over the past 11 weeks.
- 18% of people with their primary vaccination series have had the new bivalent booster up 13% from two weeks ago.
- The seven-day daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 43 and has increased by 2 since last week, and of ICU patients is 6 and has decreased by 1 from the previous week.
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.
An updated COVID-19 booster is now available for eligible persons 5 years and older. This new booster is bivalent, which means that it targets 2 versions of the COVID virus, the original virus and the new dominant BA.4 and BA.5 variants. It 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. Eligible persons 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. Booster shots are available at the Department of Public Health Coxe Avenue vaccination clinic, pharmacies, community health centers and rural health clinics.
Listen to the full report below:
Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, healthyasheville@ashevillefm.org