COVID-19 is still lingering around and Burke County now has a high level of community spread.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased the community level to high, up from the medium level it was holding at for multiple weeks.
With the high community level of the virus, the CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public, stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines, get tested if having symptoms and people at high risk of severe illness should take extra precautions.
The Burke County Health Department reported 94 active cases of the virus on Friday. The county’s active cases on Sept. 15 was 183, according to a previous News Herald story.
As of Friday, the county had seen 30,047 cumulative cases of the virus since the first case was reported on March 24, 2020. The county has seen more than 650 active cases as of Sept. 15, according to cumulative case numbers from the health department. The county health department reported a total of 29,393 cumulative cases on Sept. 15.
People are also reading…
But Chae Moore, public information officer for the Burke County Health Department, told The News Herald on Friday the cumulative case count is higher because the hospital had forgotten to submit some cases to the health department back in August.
The county has lost 362 lives due to the virus.
UNC Health Blue Ridge reported eight COVID-19 patients hospitalized on Friday.
For people wanting to get a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the health department is now offering the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent booster dose. The booster dose protects against the original coronavirus strain as well as the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which are currently the most prominent strains in the U.S.
Those receiving the Moderna bivalent booster must be at least 18 years old and those receiving the Pfizer BioNTech bivalent booster must be at least 12 years old.
People can’t receive the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent booster dose until at least two months have passed after completing their initial series of the vaccine. If someone has received their initial series along with previous booster dose(s) they must still wait at least two months before receiving their bivalent booster dose, the health department has said.
The Burke County Health Department offers COVID-19 vaccines every Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To make an appointment, call the department at 828-764-9150.
