Buncombe County COVID-19 Cases Weekly Community Update

Buncombe County -- Buncombe County Government  Updated Case Count for July 9, 2020 4:05 pm

Key Takeaways

777 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in BC residents

From Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller

COVID-19 is a serious public health issue
Wearing a mask is an essential part of keeping people safe from COVID-19
Wearing a mask is required to do business at any Buncombe County facility. 
Private businesses also have the right to require that patrons wear a face covering
If an individual fails to comply after being asked by the business to put on a mask they can be asked to leave and must comply or face being charged with trespassing by the Sheriff’s Office 
The goal of law enforcement is to educate and inform 
The Sheriff’s Office will engage in discussion with businesses prior to issuing citations
However, the Sheriff’s Office will issue citations if need be
We are hopeful that by taking this approach we can get voluntary compliance
 
From BC Interim Public Health Director Dr. Jennifer Mullendore

Lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County are rising at an alarming rate
Yesterday, we received nearly 50 new positive lab results and so far today, another 42
Almost all of these cases are in individuals who do not live or work in long-term care facilities
Our Communicable Disease nurses continue to work long and hard to reach out to each of those individuals to provide guidance on isolation and to determine their close contacts in an effort to prevent further spread of the virus
As a result of the significant influx of cases and the way data must be manually entered to populate our county COVID-19 dashboard, there will be a fairly big lag in the case count shown there
As of noon today, there have been 777 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County residents
32 of these individuals have died as a result of their infection, including 27 residents of 4 local long-term care facilities
We continue to see a greater percentage of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in people between the ages of 18-49
Yesterday, the county was informed of a new COVID-19 outbreak in another long-term care facility in the county.
A COVID-19 outbreak in a long-term care facility is defined as 2 or more laboratory-confirmed cases.
There have now been outbreaks at 9 long-term care facilities in Buncombe County
Public health considers a long-term care facility COVID-19 outbreak over when it has been 28 days with no evidence of continued spread of COVID-19 within the facility
Two facilities have had their outbreaks come to an end, so we are now at 7 active outbreaks in long-term care facilities in the county
More details on these outbreaks will be available on the state’s COVID website on Friday July 10, 2020 by 4 p.m.
Buncombe County Public Health is aware of over 18,400 COVID-19 tests that have been performed on BC residents and staff who work in BC LTCFs in Buncombe County
Looking at the percent of tests that are positive tells us whether lab-confirmed cases are increasing in comparison to the number of tests performed
In NC as a whole, 9% of COVID-19 tests performed are coming back positive, this percentage has been stable for the past several weeks.
In Buncombe County, since last week, we have seen a greater percentage of tests come back positive for COVID-19,  indicating we are seeing more spread of the infection in our community
Last week, 2% of COVID tests on county residents came back positive for COVID, but now we are seeing 4% of tests come back positive
If you meet any of the following criteria, we are recommending that you get tested for COVID-19:Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19
Symptoms include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Close contacts of known positive cases, whether or not you have symptoms
People in the following groups who believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19, whether or not you have symptoms:
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)
Persons from historically marginalized populations (meaning Black and Indigenous People and People of Color)
Health care 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 of any type, particularly if they were in crowds or other situations where they couldn’t practice effective social distancing
If your healthcare provider does not offer testing, contact one of the local urgent cares or clinics offering testing.
The state website has a “Find My Testing Place” resource with up-to-date information about testing locations in NC
Buncombe County Government and Western North Carolina Community Health Services (WNCCHS) will continue to offer COVID-19 testing at community-based sites throughout the County over the next 8 weeks.
The next testing event will be on Sunday, July 12 from 1:30-5:30pm at A-B Tech, off Genevieve Circle, in the Allied Health Building Parking Lot
Next week we will begin the 3rd round of testing at the permanent community test sites
Due to the recent increase in testing nationwide and supply chain issues at some labs, LabCorp and other large commercial labs have seen an increase in specimens being sent to them for testing
As a result, the time it is taking to get test results has increased to 5-8 days
Anyone with a positive test result (meaning they have COVID-19) will be contacted by a Public Health nurse
People who were seen at the community testing sites are able to get their results online through the LabCorp Patient portal
Per LabCorp’s website, test results will be delivered to the portal as soon as they are available
Individuals will need to register or sign into the portal at patient.labcorp.com
Registration requires entry of the last four digits of the person’s social security number or a valid Driver’s License number for identity verification via text message or email
Mission Health System Chief Medical Officer Dr. William Hathaway

Mission Health (MH) has seen a rise in cases locally
All should continue to practice 3 Ws so that our healthcare system is not overwhelmed
27 patients are currently hospitalized with the virus
8 of those are in Intensive Care on ventilators
Previously we were averaging 15-20
Are seeing an increase in patients in the 18-49 age group
MH remains at Level 2 visitation
Continue to provide non-Covid care at this time
MH has created an insurance assistance program
Find information at missionhealth.org
Captain Joe Silberman with Asheville Police Department

Since March, APD has been strongly focused on education and advisement when it comes to enforcement of COVID-19 related orders
Only in cases where persistent non-compliant behavior persists, have we considered the use of citations to gain compliance
Since March, we have received more than 300 calls for service related to COVID-19 orders
Out of these calls, less than a handful resulted in citations, many resolved with communication
In regards to the mask mandate citations may be written only to businesses or organizations that fail to enforce the requirement to wear face coverings
Operators of businesses and organizations are entitled to rely on their customers or patrons' statements about whether or not they are exempted from the face covering requirements and businesses and organizations do not violate the Order if they rely on such statements
Voluntary compliance and education are specifically encouraged under the executive order, however, if a citation is necessary, just like the enforcement of past orders, it would be a Class 2 misdemeanor
If a business or organization does not allow entry to a worker, customer, or patron because that person refuses to wear a face covering, and if that worker, customer, or patron enters the premises or refuses to leave the premises, the individual may be cited for trespassing or violating any other laws
Non-compliance can be reported to APD’S non-emergency number at 828-252-1110