ASHEVILLE - Buncombe health officials do not believe the county has hit its peak in COVID-19 cases and expect the local count to continue to grow.
In the early days of the pandemic, officials predicted that the greatest strain on the local health care system due to COVID-19 would come in mid-to-late April. Some state models from the same time placed the peak in May.
But, answering a question from the Citizen Times in a release June 22, the Buncombe Department of Health and Human Services said they don't think it has yet occurred.
"Cases are climbing across the Southeast US, including in NC," BCDHSS officials wrote. "As people continue to engage in activities outside their homes, especially when they do so without following the 3W’s (wearing a face covering in public, waiting 6 feet apart and washing hands regularly), we will continue to see new cases."
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In early April, emergency preparedness director Fletcher Tove said a peak in cases could last four to 10 weeks. During peak in places like Italy and New York, doctors were forced to make grim decisions about how to parse out a limited number of ventilators to patients expected to die without them.
'We must do the hard work now'
In the June 22 release, interim Public Health director Dr. Jennifer Mullendore urged the community to stay vigilant.
“Every contact counts and we must do the hard work now if we don’t want this situation to get worse," she said. "If you must go out in public, practice the 3 W’s."
Officials believe that if a majority of Buncombe residents and county visitors followed the public health guidance, "a significant number of cases" would be prevented, the release said.
As of 8 p.m. June 22, there have been 504 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe residents, including 37 deaths. One hundred and five individuals are currently in isolation.
A majority of cases are occurring in 25-49 year-olds. Across the state, numbers continue to climb as well.
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Local officials have asked that anyone who believes they may have COVID-19 use the county's digital self-checker at BuncombeReady.org to assess their symptoms and be connected to testing.
Buncombe is offering free community testing, as well. The testing schedule is also available at BuncombeReady.org.
Testing is now recommended for the following individuals:
- Anyone with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19
- Anyone (with or without symptoms) who is a close contact of a known positive case
- Anyone (with or without symptoms) in the following groups who believes they may have been exposed to COVID-19: Persons who live in or have regular contact with high-risk settings (e.g., long-term care facility, homeless shelter, correctional facility, migrant farmworker camp)
- Persons who are at high risk of severe illness (e.g., people over 65 years of age, people of any age with underlying health conditions)
- Historically marginalized populations
- Healthcare workers or first responders (e.g. EMS, law enforcement, fire department, military)
- Front-line and essential workers (grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, child care workers, construction workers, food processing plant workers, etc.) in settings where social distancing is difficult to maintain
- People who attended mass gatherings (protests, marches, rallies, funerals, parties, cookouts, etc.), particularly if they were in crowds or other situations where they couldn’t practice effective social distancing
Mackenzie Wicker covers Buncombe County for the Asheville Citizen Times. You can reach her at mwicker@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter @MackWick.
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Buncombe County has not yet hit coronavirus peak, health officials say - Citizen Times
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