Tallulah – Graham County COVID-19 cases are starting to reach rates not seen since September, with impacts to all age groups increasing at a “staggering pace,” the Graham County Health Department is reporting.
Of 179 new cases recorded in Graham County over a 30-day period ending Jan. 10, 100 have been over the past two weeks, of which 62 have been in the last seven days.
The percent of people testing positive for the virus is 11.79 percent, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Graham County Schools started requiring masks again last week, in an effort to reduce the number of people who are forced to quarantine if they are exposed to someone sickened by the virus. Policy requires everyone who comes in close contact with someone unmasked who tests positive for the virus, whereas in cases where the afflicted person has been wearing a mask, only that person must be quarantined. The quarantine period has been reduced from 10 to 5 days. It is no secret that COVID-19 cases tend to spike following holiday breaks, and this month’s numbers reflect that trend.
The Centers for Disease Control categorizes the rate of community transmission of COVID-19 as high. It recommends that everyone in Graham County should wear a mask in public, indoor settings.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reports a cluster of five children at Robbinsville Elementary School.
School board member Chip Carringer was forced to dial in to the school board meeting on Jan. 4 after several members of his family contracted COVID.19. Graham County Sheriff Jerry Crisp, who also serves in the Navy Reserve, had his Navy retirement ceremony in Knoxville postponed a month because of rising COVID-19 numbers.
In all, Graham County has had 1,568 positive tests for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic last year, with 28 deaths.