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While there have been spikes from time to time, Cherokee County’s COVID-19 numbers have been consistent since July. In fact, numbers have been consistent throughout the state, Health Director David Badger said.
In Cherokee County, weekly totals have averaged at 49 cases for the past two months, and Labor Day weekend did not seem to cause a spike in new cases. Badger thinks a decrease in cases will depend on the community doing its part.
The state’s Phase 2.5 is set to expire Friday, and Gov. Roy Cooper was expected to announce this week any changes to coronavirus restrictions. If Cooper does loosen restrictions, like increase the size of gatherings, Badger said it doesn’t mean that everything’s safer.
“The reality is we need to try to remain safe,” Badger said, emphasizing that everyone needs to do their part. “No law or executive order is going to protect us all… Just because we can put 100 people in a room doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”
He knows it will be exciting to be able to things as they are allowed, but added that people need to be aware that some things may still have adverse effects.
As of Monday afternoon, the county had 39 active cases. Since March, the county has had 643 total cases, including 19 people from other states who tested positive while in the county and 18 people who passed away after testing positive.
Using data collected from 628 cases, the state reported Monday that 11 percent of the county’s cases were those ages 0-17, 9 percent were ages 18-24, 28 percent were ages 25-49, 26 percent were ages 50-64, 13 percent were ages 65-74 and 13 percent were ages 75 or older.
Anyone who experiences symptoms should contact their primary care provider, the health department or urgent care. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may appear 2-14 days.
COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, fatigue, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea and new loss of taste or smell.
Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms, but older adults and those with underlying medical conditions appear to be at higher risk for severe illness. The CDC said the virus spreads very easily, and risk of spreading the virus increases the closer and longer a person’s interaction with another is.
As of Monday, North Carolina had 208,248 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and 3,445 deaths related to the virus since the beginning of March. More than 184,000 of those cases are presumed to be recovered.
More than 2.9 million state residents have been tested for the virus. In the last week, 4-5 percent of the tests returned positive daily.