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From YouTube: Buncombe County COVID-19 Community Update (May 18, 2020)
Description
Buncombe County's COVID-19 Community Update for May 18, 2020. For more information about local coronavirus efforts please visit buncombeready.org
A
Good
afternoon
and
welcome
to
the
may
18th
community
update,
my
name
is
Stacie
wood
and
I'm,
a
public
information
officer
here
in
the
Emergency
Operations
Center.
This
community
update
is
also
available
in
Spanish
on
the
Buncombe
County
Health
and
Human
Services
Facebook
page,
and
that
can
be
found
on
Facebook
at
BC
HHS.
A
B
Good
afternoon,
as
of
noon
today,
there
have
been
176
lab,
confirmed
cases
of
covin
19
and
Buncombe
County
residents.
We
know
this
is
a
higher
number
of
cases
than
is
showing
on
our
County
website
currently
and
results
from
the
state's
dashboard
being
automatically
updated
by
an
electronic
reporting
system.
While
our
dashboard
relies
on
manual
entry
to
enable
inclusion
of
demographic
information
about
cases,
our
dashboard
will
be
updated
later
today,.
B
Buncombe
County,
Public
Health
has
been
working
with
a
range
of
partners
to
support
these
long-term
care
facilities
and
their
testing
of
staff
and
residents.
I
want
to
give
a
shout
out
to
range
urgent
care,
Buncombe,
County,
Emergency,
Services,
Blue,
Ridge
health
and
lab
core
who
have
answered
the
call
and
stepped
up
to
assist
with
testing
at
these
facilities.
B
Since
early
last
week,
Buncombe
County
Public
Health
has
been
going
above
and
beyond
on
our
recommendations
to
long
term
care
facilities
when
they
identify
one
case
and
a
resident
or
staff
member,
while
state
guidance
recommends
testing
of
all
residents
and
staff.
If
possible,
we
are
working
with
facilities
and
community
partners
to
ensure
that
all
residents
and
staff
in
these
facilities
are
tested,
and
we
are
instructing
those
facilities
to
repeat
testing
within
the
following
week
and
each
week
thereafter,
until
no
new
cases
are
identified.
B
B
The
lack
of
a
coordinated
plan
at
the
federal
level
has
hampered
state
and
local
ability
to
appropriately
address
this
pandemic,
and
we
are
having
to
come
up
with
solutions
on
the
local
level.
As
of
this
morning,
around
1,000
tests
were
conducted
in
these
long-term
care
facilities
that
are
experiencing
outbreaks
and
by
today's
end,
two
of
those
facilities
will
have
completed
their
second
round
of
testing.
B
B
B
This
greatly
expands
the
number
of
people
who
are
now
to
be
considered
for
testing,
but
it
also
leads
several
unanswered
questions
that
we
are
working
to
answer
on
the
state
and
local
level,
such
as.
When
should
a
symptomatic
individuals
in
these
high-risk
groups
have
repeat
testing.
We
have
to
remember
that
the
diagnostic
testing
that
is
done
for
Kovan
19
tells
you
that,
at
the
point
in
time,
when
that
individual
was
tested,
they
did
not
show
evidence
of
infection.
B
I've
looked
to
guidance
elsewhere
when
it
doesn't
exist
at
the
state
or
federal
level,
and
other
well-respected
public
health
agencies
in
the
country
are
recommending
a
possible
retest
of
every
two
weeks.
Again.
This
is
an
enormous
undertaking
and
while
testing
capacity
is
definitely
increased
and
continues
to
increase.
B
B
Inclement
weather
will
be
a
factor
this
week.
As
the
forecast
calls
for
rain
pretty
much
the
entire
week.
We
will
notify
the
community
of
any
postponements
by
9:00
a.m.
on
the
morning
of
the
scheduled
event,
and
details
of
the
testing
sites
are
available
at
Buncombe
ready
org
as
it
stands.
The
plan
is
to
be
in
the
Pisgah
View
community
tomorrow,
Tuesday
from
1:00
to
4:00
p.m.
in
Sandy
mush
community
center
on
Wednesday
from
1:00
to
4:00
p.m.
and
a
Deaver
view
community
on
Thursday
from
1:00
to
4:00
p.m.
B
If
not,
then
I
encourage
you
to
call
one
of
the
clinics
in
town
who
is
offering
telehealth
and
testing
these
include
May
heck,
Family,
Health
Center
at
Biltmore,
all
for
mercy,
Urgent
Care
sites
in
Buncombe,
County
range,
urgent
care
and
now
mission.
My
care
now
at
Biltmore,
Park
I
encourage
you
to
look
at
our
website
for
information
about
how
to
contact
these
clinics,
and
please
call
them
before
you
arrive
as
they
have
certain
hours
for
testing
and
want
to
do.
Telehealth
screening
in
advance.
B
B
I
want
to
thank
everybody
who
is
taking
kovat
19
seriously.
I
want
to
be
clear.
This
is
not
a
joke
and
it's
not
somebody
else's
problem.
It
is
everybody's
problem
and
it's
everybody's
responsibility
to
do
the
right
thing.
I
live
here
and
as
always
picking
up
dinner
for
my
family.
This
weekend,
I
observed
many
people
who
were
not
taking
the
steps
necessary
to
help
slow
the
spread
of
kovat
19.
B
B
Wear
a
cloth
face
covering
wash
your
hands
and
keep
your
physical
distance
from
others
outside
of
your
immediate
household
as
much
as
possible.
Please
take
care
of
yourself
and
everyone
around
you.
We
are
all
depending
on
you.
You
are
depending
on
me
our
actions
matter
and
will
make
the
difference
and
how
we
come
through
this
pandemic.
Thank
you.
C
Good
afternoon
flood
stove
public
health,
emergency
preparedness
director,
governor
Cooper's
executive
order,
number
138
his
phase
1
order
remains,
in
effect
through
this
Friday
May
22nd
at
5
p.m.
we
expect
that
later
this
week,
the
governor's
office
and
his
Kovan
19
taskforce
will
start
sharing
details
about
the
planned
rollout
of
phase
2.
C
While
we
don't
yet
have
specifics,
we
have
a
general
framework
from
the
state
about
what
we
can
expect.
This
framework
may
include
lifting
the
statewide
stay
at
home
order,
encouraging
vulnerable
populations
to
stay
home,
allowing
a
limited
opening
of
restaurants,
bars
and
other
businesses
that
can
follow
physical
distancing
protocol
and
operate.
However,
deuced
capacity
allow
gatherings
at
houses
of
worship
and
entertainment
venues
at
a
reduced
capacity
increase
the
number
of
people
allowed
at
mass
gatherings,
open
public
playgrounds,
all
while
continuing
rigorous
restrictions
on
nursing
homes
and
other
congregate
living
settings.
C
If
only
people
who
had
symptoms
inspected
others,
only
those
people
who
would
were
feeling
sick
would
need
to
wear
a
face
covering,
but
we
know
for
fact
that
people
who
never
show
any
symptoms
associated
with
Kovan
19
are
infecting
others.
In
fact,
studies
consistently
show
that
roughly
50%
of
new
cases
are
infected
by
people
who
themselves
are
not
showing
symptoms.
C
C
So
without
a
treatment
and
without
a
vaccine.
The
combination
of
face
coverings
and
physical
distancing
are
the
best
tools
we
have
to
fight
this
pandemic,
so
the
face
covering
is
an
effective
tool
in
our
fight
against
kovat
19,
but
wearing
a
face
covering
in
public
is
much
more
than
that.
It's
a
symbol
of
caring
and
compassion,
it's
a
symbol
of
community
solidarity
and
challenging
times,
and
it's
recognition
that
the
consequences
of
your
actions
extend
past
your
own
household
and
may
affect
the
lives
and
families
of
others,
so
protect
others.
C
A
So
for
more
information
on
testing
and
signage
and
guidance
for
local
businesses,
you
can
visit
Buncombe
reddy
org,
where
we
have
posted
a
an
array
of
information
and
signage
and
resources
that
people
can
use
in
their
places
of
business.
That
outlines
and
underscores
the
importance
of
these
public
health
measures.
A
We
also
want
to
let
the
community
know
that
there
will
be
a
planned
internet
outage
for
the
Buncombe
County
website
on
Wednesday
May
20th
from
3:30
to
5:30
a.m.
as
our
IT
department
will
be
making
a
major
upgrade
to
the
county's
website.
During
this
time,
the
next
community
update
will
be
provided
on
Thursday.
Thank
you
for
staying
engaged.