The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now classifies Henderson County’s COVID-19 community level as low risk.
The CDC updated the U.S. COVID-19 Community Levels by County Map on Thursday, March 3. Henderson County was labeled medium risk in the previous version.
The CDC looks at the combination of three metrics — new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days — to determine the COVID-19 community level.
The three classification levels are low, medium and high.
Transylvania County is also considered low risk, and Polk County is now at medium risk. In the last map, Transylvania County was the only one in the state labeled low risk. Polk County was previously considered high risk.
The CDC’s recommendations for low-risk counties are to stay up to date with vaccines and to get tested if you have COVID symptoms. For medium-risk counties, those who are at high risk for severe illness are instructed to talk to their healthcare provider about wearing a mask and other precautions. The CDC still suggests individuals in high-risk counties continue to mask up indoors.
Hospitals offer guidance, updates
As of Friday, Pardee UNC Health Care was caring for seven patients hospitalized for COVID-19, with three of those requiring intensive care. Of those patients, two are vaccinated, according to Dr. Greg McCarty, Pardee’s Chief Medical Officer.
“I am relieved to see a continued downward trend and stabilization of patients in our community requiring hospitalization or intensive care for COVID. While this is encouraging, it’s important to mention that we continue to see new patients diagnosed every day in our hospital and community-based care centers, said McCarty.
“For those individuals who remain unvaccinated or are at high-risk for severe infection, we continue to encourage vaccinations and booster shots, as well as masking in settings of higher potential transmission risk, especially indoors and in crowded public spaces.”
As of Friday, March 4, AdventHealth Hendersonville had three COVID-19 patients.
“This is the first week since the beginning of the year that we have seen our COVID-19 patient numbers in the single digits for the entire week,” Communications Director Victoria Dunkle said. “Our weekly COVID-19 average dropped from 9.14 patients last week to 3.14 patients this week.”
“To keep this trend moving in this direction, we do encourage everyone to continue to follow CDC guidelines for masking, hand washing and other COVID-19 safety measures,” Dunkle added. “This is especially important to remember as many people are getting ready to travel for spring break and other events in the coming weeks.”
County case counts
As of Friday, NCDHHS reports 267 new COVID-19 cases in Henderson County in the last 14 days, down from 480 on Friday, Feb. 25 and 826 on Feb. 18. In Transylvania County, 41 cases have been confirmed in the last two weeks, down from 116, and 43 in Polk County, down from 80.
Henderson County’s cumulative COVID case count Friday with NCDHHS was 24,635 with 287 total reported deaths, up from last week 284 and 280 total deaths the week before. In Transylvania County, 6,066 cases and 68 deaths, up from 67 last week, have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic. For Polk County, the cumulative case total is 3,812 with 52 deaths, up slightly from 51 last week.
Delays in laboratories reporting tests may occur, NCDHHS notes.
For more information from NCDHHS, go to covid19.ncdhhs.gov. Additional information for Henderson County is available at www.hendersoncountync.gov/health/page/covid-19-dashboards-and-data.
