COVID-19 cases are trending downward across most of Clay County after reaching record highs last week, but Clay County Health Department is urging residents to not drop their guards. The health department reported 38 active cases on Tuesday, after the post-holiday spread of the virus hit a peak of 63 active cases just five days earlier on Jan. 7.
Those numbers followed the larger trend across North Carolina, which reported fewer than 7,000 new cases for a second day in a row on Tuesday, after finishing last week with three straight days of more than 10,000 new cases. “We’re hoping people don’t see this decrease and then get excited and want to venture out, and then it causes it to increase even more again,” said Public Health Nursing Supervisor Clarissa Rogers. “We seem to be heading in a good direction at this moment. We hope to stay that way, but anything can change.”
However, case numbers have climbed within the outbreak at Clay County Care Center, where 82 people — 48 residents and 34 staff members — had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday. The health department also announced that a 102-yearold resident of the center became the eighth person within the county to pass away due to complications from the virus — the second to die during the outbreak at the facility. So far, only two residents have required hospitalization.
Meanwhile, Clay County Health Department continues to receive COVID-19 vaccines at a steady pace. Rogers said the facility has administered about 200 vaccinations of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine so far. While the health department has received almost 900 doses in total, the actual number of vaccines available to residents is only half that since it is a two-dose series.
“We’re free to vaccinate about 450 people to make sure everybody gets their second dose,” Rogers said. “As we get more we’ll continue to call people and schedule appointments.” Residents need to call 389- 8052 to ask to be put on the waiting list. Nurses will then eventually call them back to schedule their shot when it’s their turn.
North Carolina will consider expanding the age range of people currently eligible to be vaccinated, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday, following the release of new federal guidelines earlier in the day. Federal officials now recommend that states vaccinate everyone age 65 and older and any adult under 65 with a documented health issue that makes them a “vulnerable person.”
Under North Carolina’s current guidelines, people age 75 and older are presently eligible to receive the vaccine as part of phase 1b of distribution. However, that type change may not have an immediate impact in Clay County. “Right now, the biggest thing I’m dealing with is supply versus demand,” Rogers said. “We have a big demand in this 1b category, 75 years and older, so it’s just a matter of making sure we get everybody on the list that fits that category vaccinated in a timely manner. That just depends on allocation and how quickly we get those from the state.”
Help could be on the horizon on that front as well. Among other changes announced, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said going forward the federal government will base each state’s allocation of vaccines partly on how successful states have been in administering those already provided. Until now, distribution of vaccines has been based on state population.