NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (PRWEB) – Officials with New Hanover County Public Health continue to urge residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19, as countywide metrics show signs of improvement following spikes in August and September.”Our community’s collective action in wearing masks is beginning to pay off, but we still have more work to do to keep our community safe this fall and holiday season,” Public Health Director David Howard said. “The county’s percent positivity has dropped to 6.1 percent, down from nearly 14 percent just a month ago.” While this is encouraging news, the reality is that the number of new cases of COVID-19 in our community remains high.
Over the last week, we have received reports of over 400 new cases and ten deaths caused by COVID-19. The virus is still present and poses a serious threat to our residents’ health. We know that wearing a mask and getting vaccinated is a powerful combination in protecting buildings from COVID-19, so we encourage everyone to maintain these precautions as we enter the holiday season.
“The public health requirement for indoor face coverings has been in effect since August 20, in response to high levels of COVID-19 community transmission, percent positivity rate, hospitalizations, and deaths. Since then, the county’s percent positivity rate has fallen by more than half from its peak of 14 percent in August, but other key COVID-19 metrics have remained high.
Residents who have not been vaccinated should get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves from serious illness caused by COVID-19. Hours, locations, and other information about Public Health vaccine clinics can be found at Health.NHCgov.com.Booster shot clinic has been expanded.Beginning Monday, October 11, New Hanover County Public Health will exclusively provide Pfizer (Comirnaty) COVID-19 booster shots at the Independence Mall vaccine clinic, which will have expanded hours.
The booster shots will be available on the following dates:Independence Mall (3500 Oleander Drive) is open from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.Tuesday and Thursday, 12 p.m.–7 p.m.Appointments for booster doses are required through Public Health and can be made at takemyshot.nc.gov. Individuals who need help scheduling booster doses should call the New Hanover County Coronavirus Call Center at 910-798-6800.Individuals are not required to return to the same location where they received their initial vaccines to receive a booster shot. Using the NCDHHS location finder, you can find additional vaccine locations.Information on booster eligibility can be found at Health.NHCgov.com/Coronavirus.
NCDHHS county vaccination rates have been updated.The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced updates to county-level vaccination data in North Carolina, which resulted in changes to overall vaccination rates in several counties across the state.
NCDHHS discovered a CDC report that shared vaccination rates based on county of administration rather than the person vaccinated’s county of residence.Changes in county-level vaccination rates have been corrected to the county of residence and now reflect a 1% decrease in vaccination rates for partially and fully vaccinated residents in New Hanover County.COVID-19 Community Data as of the 7th of October:406 new COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths have been reported in the last week (for a total of 25,203 total cases of COVID-19 in New Hanover County and 277 resident deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic).
There are currently 1,296 people who believe there are active cases. Visit Health.NHCgov.cov/Coronavirus to see the county’s data dashboard.The 14-day Percent Positivity Rate is 6.1 percent, continuing a downward trend from last week’s 8 percent and 9.6 percent the week before. This metric represents positive COVID-19 tests as a percentage of total countywide tests and is updated at COVID19.NCDHHS.gov/Dashboard.According to NHRMC, 47 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised every day.
NHRMC and NCDHHS statewide and regionally update local hospitalisation data weekly. About 142,533 New Hanover County residents (about 61 percent) have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and about 134,448 residents (about 57 percent) are fully vaccinated and protected from COVID-19.
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