Graham County has marked yet another death from COVID-19.
A post on the Graham County Health Department ’s Facebook page confirmed the county’s 23rd loss from the virus on Sept. 23. The most recent prior COVID-19 death was reported on Sept. 17. A second outbreak in the Graham County Jail was reported the same day.
But some positive signs have started to appear. Over the past few weeks, cases have begun to decline slightly, with last week’s numbers noticeably lower than the week prior. Between Sept. 17-24, the county saw 83 cases. Comparatively, the county saw 103 cases from Sept. 13-15.
Graham County Health Director Beth Booth said she was “cautiously optimistic” that numbers would continue to drop.
“We’re hoping it will,” Booth said. “It’s a little too early to tell, but over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen the most significant change in the decrease of cases, so we’re hoping that trend continues.”
However, she referenced the change in cases between June and July as the Delta variant took hold, saying that she was still wary.
“That didn’t work out well the first time, so we are hoping that this continues,” Booth said.
In a Sept. 21 press conference in Raleigh, State Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen spoke to similar threads statewide, with hospitalizations plateauing and the number of new cases also beginning to stabilize.
“While the numbers are still too high, they are relatively level and at least not increasing further,” Cohen said.
Cohen also said that those who ended up hospitalized with COVID-19 were often extremely ill.
“Unfortunately, people are still getting very sick,” Cohen said. “For close to a month now, we have been near or above 900 North Carolinians requiring intensive care unit beds and a third of all new COVID hospital admissions in the past week have been in people under the age of 49.”
Both Cohen and Gov. Roy Copper urged vaccines and thanked those who have already taken the shot.
“My heart breaks for each life lost, for each person living with ongoing symptoms of COVID even after they recover, and for the families, friends and communities picking up the pieces,” Cohen said. “This doesn’t need to happen. More than 181 million Americans have been safely vaccinated.”
Booth said some people in the county with compromised immune systems had also taken a third dose of the vaccine.
She emphasized that the heath department, Tallulah Health Clinic and Walgreens were all still offering the vaccine to the public and that anyone wishing to be vaccinated should contact one of the facilities.
“We’re just hoping that everyone takes their vaccines, wears their masks and does what they can,” Booth said.