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September was the county’s worst month for COVID-19 since March in Cherokee County, with 207 people testing positive and 13 people – including 10 nursing home residents – passing away after testing positive.
While the 207 positive is consistent with the 200 positive in July and 198 positive in August, the percent of people testing positive was higher, as 963 people got tested and 1,067 received test results during the month.
“Testing has been down nationwide,” county Health Director David Badger said. “Just because we’re testing less doesn’t mean the virus isn’t out there.”
He attributed lower testing numbers to confusion over changing guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, as well as people just getting tired of the virus.
“There’s a lot of that in play,” Badger said.
He said it’s still “highly important” that people get tested. In fact, Badger said people cannot just rely on their symptoms – a lot of people don’t get a fever, and a vast majority of local residents have not had a fever with the virus.
He said testing is important so people aren’t unintentionally infected, to help understand the transmission of the virus and to break the chain of transmission.
“Testing is a very important strategy,” Badger said.
However, he said testing alone won’t prevent the virus from finding a way in. That was seen over the weekend, as some of the nation’s leaders tested positive, and locally over the last month in nursing homes.
Outbreaks continued at both nursing homes with 57 residents and staff – 20 at Murphy Nursing & Rehabilitation in Peachtree, 37 at Valley View Care & Rehabilitation in Andrews – testing positive for the virus this month.
A congregate living facility is determined to have an outbreak when two or more people tested positive. A facility is considered clear of an outbreak when it’s had no new cases for 28 days.
In comparison, August saw 198 people test positive and two people die after testing positive. By the end of August, 27 nursing home residents and staff had tested positive in the outbreaks.
“I know it’s been hard on them,” Badger said. From what he’s seen, both nursing homes have been doing their best efforts with infection control.
On Sept. 4, the Department of Health & Human Services allowed outdoor visitation at nursing homes not in an outbreak. On Sept. 28, the state updated its nursing home visitation guidelines allowing indoor visitation for facilities with no COVID-19 cases for 14 days in counties with a positive case rate less than 10 percent.
Murphy Nursing had its last positive case Thursday, while Valley View had its last positive case Sept. 26. Both homes have not allowed visitors since March and have been following guidelines from the state, CDC, the local health department and their own companies.
If the homes had allowed visitors, even for families to visit ill loved ones, Badger believes more people could have been infected and negatively affected.
“It’s certainly sad, it’s tough,” Badger said. “It’s very tragic.”
As cold and flu season begins with similar symptoms to COVID-19, Badger hopes people continue to lessen the risks of spreading illness by wearing a face covering and staying away from others. He said people also need to be “hyperaware” of how they are feeling.
“I think that is going to be so important going into the season,” Badger said.
As of Monday afternoon, the county had 61 active cases. Since March, the county has had 677 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 677 cases, the state reported Monday that 11 percent of the county’s cases were those ages 0-17, 8 percent were ages 18-24, 29 percent were ages 25-49, 25 percent were ages 50-64, 13 percent were ages 65-74 and 13 percent were ages 75 or older.
Anyone with 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 after exposure.
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 219,754 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and 3,637 deaths related to the virus since the beginning of March. More than 176,000 of those cases were presumed to be recovered.
More than 3.1 million state residents have been tested for the virus. In the last week, 5-6 percent of the tests returned positive daily.