Press release from Buncombe County:
On Tuesday, March 9, Buncombe County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders provided a COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine community update. As of March 9:
– There have been 15,822 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County since the pandemic’s start.
– There have been 293 COVID-19-related deaths in our community.
– The number of new cases per 100,000 per week has dropped to 98 per 100,000 per week. With about 37 new cases per day, the numbers are more similar to pre-surge values.
– The percent positivity is stable for the past week at 3.1 percent.
– Hospitalizations in the region remain stable.
“These indicators are looking more and more like the metrics prior to the holiday surge,” said Saunders. “This is encouraging and a welcomed sight after a very tough holiday season with significant community spread and transmission. I want to see these trends continue and move further down, and to do that we need your continued help by wearing masks, washing hands, and limiting interactions. If we do our part now, we can see our trends remain stable if not continue to decline. These simple steps are so important as we continue to vaccinate the community.”
Vaccines and the Group 3 Waitlist
Since December 22, Buncombe County Health and Human Services (BCHHS) has been vaccinating members of our community with help and support from Buncombe County Emergency Services and other partners, and at 8 a.m. on March 10, the waitlist will open to all frontline essential employees. To join the waitlist, go to www.buncombeready.org or call 828-250-5000 on Wednesday after 8 a.m.
Individuals who are working in-person in one of the eight essential sectors are eligible for vaccinations. The eight essential sectors are critical manufacturing, education, essential goods, food/agriculture, government/community services, health care/public health, public safety, and transportation. For more details on these sectors and other vaccine information visit covid19.ncdhhs.gov.
To date, BCHHS has administered 38,146 total vaccines, with about 63 percent of those being first doses. For the last three weeks, BCHHS has received a baseline allocation of 2,340 doses. In addition, for the last three weeks BCHHS has received 300 additional doses each week for equity projects. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services allocated equity “bumps” for the purposes of improving the equitable distribution of vaccine to marginalized populations. With the equity allocations, BCHHS has worked with community partners like Triedstone Missionary Baptist Church and Haywood Street Mission to hold events to reach populations that may have limited access to vaccination opportunities but may be at highest risk of severe illness if they were to contract COVID-19.
This week in addition to our baseline and our equity allocation, we have accepted a transfer from our hospital partner of 1,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson for appointments. BCHHS is currently scheduling in the 25,000-28,000 range of the waitlist.
BCHHS continues to run first-dose operations from the AB Tech site. Through March 19, second doses will be administered at Reynolds High. On March 20, second-dose operations will transition to Biltmore Church South as a drive-through site.
To get more information on vaccine distribution for Group 3 and beyond, text “covid” to 99411. To be removed from the waitlist, please call 828-419-0095.
Testing
Visit the Find my Testing Place website or visit starmed.care to register for COVID-19 testing in Buncombe County. Individuals who are showing symptoms or believe they have had close contact to COVID-19 should get tested.
Emergency Alerts
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the pandemic, it’s that time is of the essence in a crisis, and it’s also critical in the recovery after. Buncombe County residents can stay up-to-date on emergency situations by signing up for BC Alerts by texting “BCAlert” to 99411 or by clicking here.
Users can select which type of notices they’d like to receive, the languages for the communications, and even TTY options. These alerts include key information about COVID vaccines and waitlists as well.
If residents have previously signed up for BC Alerts, they will need to re-register in order to continue receiving them due to a change in emergency alert providers. Visit www.buncombecounty.org to learn more.
Please continue to practice the 3Ws to stop transmission of COVID-19, even if you’ve received a vaccine. It will take the vaccine and these important preventative measures to get our families back to a sense of normalcy. For more information about COVID-19, vaccine waitlists and COVID testing, go to www.buncombeready.org.
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