Like the rest of the state and the nation, local COVID-19 numbers are back up. In the past week, there have been 133 new cases in Stokes County, an average of 19 per day. Active cases have increased by 46 to 176 and two citizens are hospitalized.
Fortunately there have been no additional deaths.
According to the latest figures from the Stokes County Health Department, issued Tuesday, there have been a total of 11,800 cases during the long pandemic.
Stokes County has 50% of residents who have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, 47% with two doses, and 25% have received at least one booster shot.
The county Health Department continues to schedule vaccination appointments for those who are 18 years and older. Call 336-593-2400 or email covid19@co.stokes.nc.us to schedule a vaccination appointment. If you have questions about COVID-19, call Health Department. Their hours are: Monday through Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Stokes Pharmacy, all in King, are also offering the vaccine. The Walmart Pharmacy is now offering the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5-11.
For more information about where to find a vaccine or booster appointment nearby, go to MySpot.nc.gov.
● After a lull, the number of people infected with COVID-19 is on the upswing again in North Carolina, as is the number of people hospitalized with the disease. But it’s far from clear whether the state is in for another wave of cases like those that washed over the state this winter or late last summer. More than 23,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide last week, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s up from about 3,000 cases a week in mid-March, though still far below the peak in January, a month when more than 700,000 people tested positive.
The pandemic is “most certainly not over,” the head of the World Health Organization warned. The U.N. health agency’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that “we lower our guard at our peril.”
● The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges areas with high COVID-19 community levels to encourage people to mask up in public indoor settings. Counties with high COVID community levels should encourage people to put their masks back on while indoors and people in areas with medium levels should consider masking based on their own COVID-19 risk, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. More than 32% of people nationwide live in areas with medium or high COVID-19 community levels, Walensky said. “In areas where community levels are high, everyone should be using prevention measures and wearing a mask in public indoor settings,” she said.
● Three doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine offer strong protection for children younger than 5, the company says. Pfizer plans to give the data to U.S. regulators later this week in a step toward letting the littlest kids get the shots. The news comes after months of anxious waiting by parents desperate to vaccinate their babies, toddlers and preschoolers, especially as COVID cases once again are rising. The 18 million under 5 are the only group in the U.S. not yet eligible for COVID vaccination.
On Friday the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said it has approved the Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot for children ages 5 to 11.
The Food and Drug Administration has begun evaluating data from rival Moderna, which hopes to begin offering two kid-sized shots by summer.
● With COVID cases on the rise again around North Carolina, one way to keep yourself safe is by getting vaccinated against the virus — and by getting booster doses when you’re eligible for them. Initial booster doses have been available to all adults in the U.S. since November 2021, with additional groups becoming eligible since then — including children ages 5 to 11, who became eligible for a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine this week. And since March of this year, certain groups — those who are 50 and older or are immunocompromised — have been eligible for an additional, second booster dose.
● The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million last week, a once-unimaginable figure that only hints at the multitudes of loved ones and friends staggered by grief and frustration. The confirmed number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 336 days. It is roughly equal to how many Americans died in the Civil War and World War II combined. It’s as if Boston and Pittsburgh were wiped out. Three out of every four deaths were people 65 and older. More men died than women. White people made up most of the deaths overall. But Black, Hispanic and Native American people have been roughly twice as likely to die from COVID as their white counterparts.
● The Biden administration is opening CovidTests.gov for a third round of orders while reiterating its calls on Congress to act on additional COVID response funding. U.S. households are now able to order “an additional eight free at-home tests at COVIDTests.gov — bringing the total number of free tests available to each household since the start of the program to 16,” the White House said Tuesday.
