Buncombe County Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases Weekly Community Update

Buncombe County -- Buncombe County Government: Feb. 23, 2021 Update:

Vaccine Rollout Continues in Buncombe County as Trends Improve

On Tuesday, Feb. 23, Buncombe County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders provided a weekly COVID community update. today: 

There have been 15,120 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County since the pandemic’s start.
There have been 289 COVID-19-related deaths in our community. 
The number of new cases per 100,000 per week has decreased significantly since the beginning of the New Year and is now 171 per 100,000 per week.
The percent positivity also continues to decline and currently is 3.7 percent.
Hospitalizations in the region continue to decline.
Vaccine Rollout
Since Dec. 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. To date, BCHHS has administered 25,502 total vaccinations.

BCHHS is currently vaccinating individuals in Groups 1 and 2 – healthcare workers and adults 65 and older, respectively. Through BCHHS and private vaccine administration, approximately 12 percent of Buncombe County’s general population has received at least a first dose of the vaccine.
Beginning this week, the baseline allocation will be 2,340 doses. While this may seem like an increase, it is the same number of vials as the previous three weeks but is now based on the expectation of six doses per Pfizer vaccine bottle.
In addition, this week BCHHS will receive 300 additional doses from N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for improving the equitable distribution of vaccine to marginalized populations. This week, BCHHS will partner with Tried Stone Missionary Baptist Church and Western Carolina University to hold a vaccine event to better meet the needs of our historically marginalized populations and provide opportunities for vaccine access that otherwise may be limited for those who qualify in the active phases of adults 65 and older, health care workers and school personnel. Vaccines are available by appointment only.

If eligible for one of the vaccine groups, individuals can call 828-250-5000 or visit buncombeready.org to get on the waitlist. Buncombe County staff is currently calling individuals between numbers 10,000 and 12,000. Approximately 40,000 individuals remain on the wait list, and they are contacted in the order which they signed up. If individuals need to remove their name from the waitlist, please email ready@buncombecounty.org or call us at 828-419-0095 or 828-250-5000.

NC DHHS has county-level vaccination data available on a dashboard available here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/vaccinations

Vaccines for School Employees
Last week, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners directed BCHHS staff to begin providing vaccines to school employees by diverting one tray of vaccines – approximately 1,000 doses – from each week’s baseline allocation. Vaccinations for public, private and charter school personnel will occur at the A-B Tech site by appointment.

By close of business Wednesday, school administrators will provide BCHHS lists of school staff who have expressed interest in receiving the vaccine. BCHHS schedulers will use those lists to schedule about 1,000 appointments each week for school staff. It will take several weeks to complete the lists. If a school employee misses the deadline to be placed on that list by their school administrator, they will then be directed to the Buncombe County wait list for Group 3 when it opens on March 10 to frontline essential workers.
MAHEC has received vaccine doses and is partnering with the Buncombe Partnership for Children to identify childcare facility staff eligible for vaccine.  
 

Testing
BCHHS is no longer offering COVID-19 testing. BCHHS worked with NC DHHS to establish a testing vendor, StarMed, in the county. Visit the Find my Testing Place website or visit starmed.care to register for drive-through COVID-19 testing at the Buncombe County Sports Park. Individuals who are showing symptoms or believe they have had close contact to COVID-19 should get tested.
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.
 

Feb. 16, 2021 Update:

Buncombe County COVID-19 Positivity Rate Continues to Decline, School Employees Slated to Begin Receiving Vaccinations

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, Buncombe County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders provided a weekly COVID community update. As of Feb. 16:

There have been 14,671 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County since the pandemic’s start.
There have been 274 COVID-19-related deaths in our community. 
The number of new cases per 100,000 per week has decreased significantly since the beginning of the New Year and is now 183 per 100,000 per week and approximately 68 per day, down from 98 per day just two weeks ago.
The percent positivity also continues to decline and currently is 4.1 percent.
 Hospitalizations in the region continue to decline with about 6.4 percent of area inpatient beds occupied with COVID-19 patients, down from 11 percent two weeks ago.
Vaccine rollout

Since Dec. 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.

To date, BCHHS has administered 21,237 total vaccinations, and as of yesterday, 1.6 million doses have been administered in North Carolina. BCHHS is currently vaccinating individuals in Groups 1 and 2 – healthcare workers and adults 65 and older, respectively. Through BCHHS and private vaccine administration, approximately 10 percent of Buncombe County’s general population has received at least a first dose of the vaccine.

Currently, BCHHS is receiving 1,950 first doses of vaccine each week and is scheduling about 2,000 appointments each week. While there has been an increase in Buncombe County’s weekly allocation since beginning the rollout, vaccine supply remains very low. 

On Feb. 13, BCHHS held an equity-focused vaccine event. Partnering with CHOSEN, YMCA, ABIPA, WNC Medical Society, IPHA, Housing Authority, City of Asheville, and Buncombe County Government, more than 330 vaccinations were administered. The vaccines were transferred to BCHHS from Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers.

North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services now has county-level vaccination data available on a dashboard available here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/vaccinations

According to BCHHS COVID-19 Vaccine Management System data:

 93 percent of vaccine recipients are individuals with a Buncombe County address.
6 percent of vaccine recipients are North Carolina residents residing outside of Buncombe County.
If eligible for one of the vaccine groups, individuals can call (828) 250-5000 or visit buncombeready.org to get on the waitlist. Buncombe County staff is currently calling individuals between numbers 6,500 and 8,500. Approximately 40,000 individuals remain on the wait list, and they are contacted in the order which they signed up. If individuals need to remove their name from the waitlist, please email ready@buncombecounty.org or call us at (828) 250-5000.

Vaccines for School Employees

Last week, Governor Cooper announced that eligibility for Group 3 would begin Feb. 24 for childcare employees and school employees in pre-k through 12th grade.

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners directed BCHHS staff to begin providing vaccines to school employees by diverting one tray of vaccines – 975 doses – from each week’s general allocation. Communication about how to become part of the vaccination process will come from school and district leadership.

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 towww.buncombeready.org.

Public Health Update Feb. 9, 2021

Buncombe County COVID-19 Positivity Rate Continues to Decline but B.C. 1.1.7 Variant Detected Locally

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Buncombe County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders provided a weekly COVID community update. 

Key takeaways

There are 14,193 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County since the pandemic’s start.
There have been 270 COVID-19-related deaths in our community. 
The number of new cases per 100,000 per week has decreased significantly since the beginning of the New Year and is now 277 per 100,0000 per week, 33 percentage points lower than four weeks ago.
There are an average of 70 new cases per day, down from 98 per day last week.
The percent positivity also continues to decline and is 5.6 percent.
Hospitalizations in the region continue to decline with about 8 percent of area inpatient beds occupied with COVID-19 patients.
New strain identified in Buncombe County
While the overall metrics Buncombe County Health and Human Services (BCHHS) monitors continue to trend in a more favorable direction, the B.1.1.7 variant, which originated in the United Kingdom, is circulating in our community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts random surveillance on COVID-19 test samples for potential variant strains for better understanding of what is currently circulating. Through surveillance systems, three cases with B.1.1.7 variant have been identified in Buncombe County. Twenty-one B.1.1.7 variant cases have been identified throughout North Carolina using the surveillance process.

Typical case investigation and contact tracing occurred at time of initial positive result for each case prior to the variant sequencing results and each of the cases has since been released from isolation. According to the CDC, the B.1.1.7 variant is a more highly transmissible strain of COVID-19. Early indications show that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (the same as those used in Buncombe County) are effective against this strain of the virus.
“This variant is spreading throughout the country and our state,” said Saunders. “We should expect to see more cases of variant in our community as transmission rates of COVID, while declining slightly, continue to indicate heavy community spread. It is important for our community to know that the same measures that are good at stopping the spread of initial novel coronavirus strain are just as good at stopping the spread of variants.”

Vaccine rollout
Since December 22, BCHHS has been vaccinating members of our community with help and support from Buncombe County Emergency Services and other partners. To date, BCHHS has administered 16,400 total vaccinations. About 80 percent of these are first doses and the remaining portion represents second doses. BCHHS is currently vaccinating individuals in phase 1 and 2 – healthcare workers and adults 65 and older, respectively.
Currently, BCHHS is receiving 1,950 first doses of vaccine each week and is scheduling about 2,000 appointments each week. While there has been an increase in Buncombe County’s weekly allocation from the state, vaccine supply remains very low. 
If eligible for one of the vaccine groups, individuals can call 828-250-5000 or visit buncombeready.org to get on the waitlist. Buncombe County staff is currently calling individuals between numbers 6,000 and 8,000. Approximately 40,000 individuals remain on the wait list, and they are contacted in the order which they signed up. If individuals need to remove their name from the waitlist, please email ready@buncombecounty.org or call us at 828-250-5000.

Please continue to practice the 3Ws to stop transmission of COVID-19. 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.