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From YouTube: COVID-19 Community Update (Feb. 1, 2022)
Description
Learn more at buncombeready.org.
A
One
of
the
things
I
would
it's
I'll
just
comment
very
quickly
as
we
as
we
adapt
to
this
this
setup
that
the
last
two
years
have
taught
me
that
you
are
just
gonna
have
to
be
adaptable
to
things.
So
please
bear
with
me
as
there's
lots
up
here
today.
So
thank
you,
commissioners,
for
the
opportunity
to
provide
this
update
to
you.
A
A
A
While
the
case
rate
and
the
percent
positivity
are
showing
signs
of
decline
and
signs
of
hope
that
the
surge
may
be
dissipating,
hospitalizations
and
deaths
are
not
yet
showing
that
same
decline.
This
is
not
altogether
surprising.
You've
heard
me
say
before
that
our
covet-like
illness
is
our
first
indicator,
followed
by
our
case
rates,
and
then
our
hospitalizations
and
our
deaths
tend
to
be
lagging
of
those
case
rates.
A
So
here
what
you're
seeing
is
the
western
north
carolina
regional
hospital
data
that
is
showing
a
continued
increase
in
inpatient
beds,
occupied
with
coven
19
and
a
steady
increase
in
icu
utilization,
specifically
for
our
mission
hospital
system.
We
have
recently
seen
high
stabilization
in
the
inpatient
beds
with
coveted
19..
Over
the
last
several
days.
A
Additionally,
13
new
deaths
have
been
reported
to
the
dashboard,
bringing
our
death
rate
from
4.2
deaths
per
100
000
per
week
last
week
to
about
five
deaths
per
week,
a
per
per
100
000
per
week.
This
week
we
now
have
lost
488
neighbors
to
covet
19
related
deaths
again,
as
cases
continue
to
decrease.
A
It
is
likely
that
the
hospitalizations
and
death
may
also
begin
to
see
a
decrease
in
the
next
several
days
to
weeks,
and
so
what
I
have
for
you
now
is
our
metrics
that
we've
been
following
since
october
of
2020
and
just
to
summarize
the
metrics,
while
cases
and
percent
positivity
remain
high,
they
are
beginning
to
show
signs
of
decline.
So
this
is
encouraging.
A
A
A
Each
community
organization
then
received
an
allocation
based
on
the
population
they
serve,
including
high
risk
of
exposure
or
high
risk
of
severe
illness
geographical
location,
et
cetera
community
organizations.
Then
we're
provided
agreement
just
like
the
what
you'll
hear
on
the
general
population
side
picked
up
their
allocations
and
have
begun
to
distribute
to
their
clients
to
their
population
through
events
that
they
support
like
food
markets,
community
centers,
homeless,
outreach,
homebound
and
other
mechanisms.
A
The
second
arm
of
the
initiative
is
focused
on
providing
opportunity
to
the
general
public
to
the
at-home
testing
resource.
This
involved
identifying
partners
that
could
function
as
fixed
sites
throughout
the
county
for
distribution
and
in
order
to
best
serve
the
general
population.
We
identified
fire
departments,
libraries
and
the
health
department.
A
A
So
I
just
wanted
to
take
a
moment
to
personally
thank
all
the
community
partners,
all
the
community
organizations,
the
fire
departments,
the
libraries
and
the
forty
cox
staff
for
their
participation,
assistance
and
support
in
getting
this
resource
out
to
the
community
just
to
spotlight.
Some
of
that
great
work,
in
particular
broad
river
fire
department,
actually
utilized
some
of
their
at-home
test
kits
for
the
homebound
in
their
community
and
delivered
those
to
the
doors
of
those
individuals.
A
The
asheville
fire
department,
partnered
with
shiloh
and
stevens
lee
community
center
to
provide
distribution
at
those
centers
location
for
ease
of
access
and
better
reach
into
the
community,
and
a
couple
of
our
rural
community
centers
are
utilizing
their
kits
for
food
security
programs
that
they
support.
They
operate
to
support
those
community
members.
A
While
implementing
the
at-home
test
kit
initiative,
we
have
been
working
to
increase
the
testing
capacity
and
opportunity
in
the
community,
especially
while
the
demand
has
been
so
high.
Our
community
added
optum
testing
provider,
a
north
carolina
department
of
health
and
human
service
testing
resource
to
the
testing
provider
list
optum
began
providing
testing
services
at
unc
a
campus
on
january
21st,
and
they
provide
testing
from
one
to
eight
pm
on
fridays
and
then
nine
to
five
on
saturday
and
sundays,
and
we
anticipate
that
optum
will
be
in
the
community
until
at
least
february
20th.
A
And
I
can
say
it's
pretty
simple
of
a
process
of
entering
your
name
and
your
address.
No
other
information
is
needed
and
just
a
reminder
that
folks,
who
are
registering
for
these
test,
kits
that
if
you
live
in
a
multi-unit
housing
like
an
apartment,
make
sure
that
you
do
put
your
apartment
number
or
your
unit
number.
A
That's
really
important,
and
I
want
to
also
just
say
to
our
community
organizations,
churches
and
others
that
for
folks
who
may
not
have
internet
access
or
don't
find
technology
easy
to
use
that,
please
think
about
helping
folks
sign
up
to
get
these
tests.
There
is
also
a
phone
number
or
so
a
phone
option
if
folks
do
not
want
to
use
the
website.
A
A
So
you
know,
please
think
about
some
of
the
other
opportunities
that
you
also
have
for
at
home.
Rapid
testing
and
recently
added
that
at-home
test
kit
purchase
the
over-the-counter
at-home
rapid
test
purchase
can
be
covered
by
insurance,
with
the
exception
of
some
medicare
plans.
So
please
check
with
your
provider
your
insurance
plan
provider
and
the
pharmacist
that
that
may
be
covered
by
your
insurance
plan
or
reimbursable.
A
And
now
I
just
would
like
to
spend
a
little
time
on
vaccine
efforts
that
we
did
see
a
slowing
in
the
uptake
of
vaccine
with
the
holidays
and
winter
break.
That
coincided
with
schools
being
out,
but
I
did
want
to
share
that
right
now.
70
percent
of
our
72
percent
of
our
eligible
population
has
received
at
least
one
dose
and
69
of
our
eligible
population
has
received
their
full
primary
series.
A
So
with
now
with
the
holidays
behind
us,
and
we
still
have
high
transmission,
now
is
a
good
time
for
folks
to
start
their
series
or
get
their
missing
dose
and
folks
can
visit
us
at
a
community
vaccination
event
that
we
have
planned
for
saturday
at
tc,
robertson,
high
school,
that's
february
5th
at
10,
and
you
can
get
your
booster
dose.
You
can
get
your
first
dose.
You
can
get
whatever
dose
you
need
at
that
event.
Additionally,
we
continue
to
hold
our
vaccination
clinic
at
40
cox.
A
A
I'll
have
more
to
come
on
that
information
as
we
get
closer
to
that
transition
and
then,
lastly,
just
some
key
points
and
takeaways
for
folks
at
home
around
that.
Yes,
cases
are
beginning
to
decline.
It's
still
important
to
protect
ourselves.
If
you
have
symptoms,
please
stay
at
home.
Call
your
provider
seek
testing
at
one
of
the
testing
providers,
make
sure
you
stay
at
home
for
at
least
five
days
if
you're
symptomatic
or
your
test
is
positive
and
until
your
symptoms
are
getting
better
and
you
have
no
fever.
A
B
Stacy,
thank
you
and
that's
really
awesome
to
hear
about
the
the
testing
sites
and
mass
distribution.
That's
fantastic
work.
I'm
sure
the
community
appreciated
that
I
had
a
question
about
vaccination
data
again,
just
to
confirm
my
own
understanding
of
where
that
data
is
coming
from.
I
think
I
think
you
showed
72
percent
of
our
county
with
one
dose.
B
A
So
I
can
thanks
for
the
question.
North
carolina
department
of
health
and
human
services
still
pulls
from
their
cvms
database,
so
that's
the
cova
vaccine
management
system
system
that
north
carolina
created
for
vaccine
providers
in
north
carolina
who
are
not
participating
in
a
federal
program
and
what
they
do
is
they
combine
the
cvms
data
from
north
carolina
providers
with
the
cdc
data
that
is
gathered
and
obtained
from
federal
providers,
whether
it's
typically
that's
going
to
be
your
department
of
justice,
your
prison
bureau,
your
veterans
affairs,
you
might
remember
a
few
months
ago.
A
There
was
some
issue
with
that
data
around
the
county
of
administration
versus
the
county
of
residents.
To
my
understanding
that
has
been
corrected
now
and
that
data
still
comes
from
the
cdc
tiberius
is
their
database
database
to
the
north
carolina
and
all
of
that
is
combined.
And
then
you
have
the
federal
pharmacy
program
where
our
large-scale
pharmacies
of
walgreens
and
cvs
we're
participating
and
still
do,
and
that
data
is
also
put
in
there.
Okay,.
C
A
Yes,
so
I
can
tell
you
that
what
is
what
I
was
able
to
find
is
that,
yes,
we
still
service
the
really
small
adult
care
homes
in
in
those
groups
through
our
our
fixed
site,
making
sure
that
I'm
sorry,
our
mobile
outreach,
the
larger
long-term
care
facilities
in
the
in
the
beginning
were
serviced
by
large-scale
retail
pharmacies.
The
state
has
sent
a
sense
put
in
some
resources
for
them.
C
D
D
The
research
I've
read
indicates
that
if
people
begin
the
treatment
process
early
after
developing
symptoms,
they
could
reduce
hospitalizations
for
people
who
contract
covert
by
maybe
maybe
90
or
so
at
least
the
pfizer
version
is
that
effective,
they're
still
in
sort
of
limited
supplies
now,
but
that's
expected
to
to
be
alleviated
in
the
coming
weeks
and
months
kind
of
like
we're
sort
of
like
in
the
early
days
of
vaccines
right,
it's
like
more
demand
than
supply,
but
that
will
change.
Probably
pretty
you
know
pretty
pretty
soon.
D
There
is
kind
of
a
somewhat
complex
process
that
for
people
to
to
get
them
right
and
the
key
is
the
key
is
that
the
people
people
need
to
start
taking
them
quickly
after
developing
symptoms.
So
you
know
I'm
reading
that
there
is
some
concern
about
whether,
as
the
supplies
become
more
readily
available,
whether
a
lot
of
folks
who
would
really
really
benefit
from
them
may
end
up
not
successfully
getting
them
in
the
small
window
of
opportunity
that
they
need
to
get
them
by
to
start
taking
them
to
avoid
being
hospitals
as
hospitalized
later.
D
So
I
just
wanted
to
ask.
I
know
that
the
county
is
not
a
direct
healthcare
provider,
but
are
there
any
things
that
we
could
do
to
potentially
support?
You
know
a
system
within
the
community
to
make
sure
that
the
people
who
would
really
benefit
from
them,
which
you
know,
certainly
includes
people
who
who
didn't
who
did
not
get
vaccinated.
D
You
know
the
elderly
people
with
other
underlying
health
conditions
that
make
them
particularly
vulnerable
if
they
do
contract
covet
so
that
they
can
get
tested,
get
a
prescription
and
then
actually
obtain
the
the
medications
within
that
matter
of
just
a
few
days.
They
have.
You
know
which,
for
folks
who
are
working
and
have
are
juggling
a
lot
of
stuff,
maybe
maybe
hard.
A
Thanks
for
the
question
you're
right
for
buncombe
county
public
health,
we
are
not
a
primary
care
provider,
so
the
direct
provision
of
that
type
of
medical
care
would
would
be
out
of
our
scope.
But
the
the
concept
of
facilitating
that
in
some
way
or
helping
get
that
word
out,
is
something
that
we
could
probably
assist
with.
And
what
comes
to
mind.
Initially.
A
So
I
think
I
could
probably
take
that
back
to
the
safety
net
provider
group
and
sort
of
see
what
is
possible
around
a
concerted
effort,
at
least
around
messaging
and
getting
the
word
out
to
very
vulnerable
populations
at
the
very
least,
to
help
them
understand
how
to
navigate
that
system.
I
will
say
that,
yes,
right
now,
the
supply
is
fairly
limited,
although
it
is
growing
daily,
and
we
do
anticipate
that
at
least
by
march.
We'll
start
to
see
that
increase
more
and
possibly
more
providers
coming
on
on
board
for
that
as
well.
D
So
I
I
don't
know
the
exact
statistics,
but
there's
a
fairly
meaningful
percentage
of
the
community
that
doesn't
have
a
you
know,
doesn't
have
a
primary
health
care
provider
right
like
I've,
read
statistics,
maybe
25
or
30
percent
of
people.
Don't
really
consider
themselves
to
have
that.
So
what's
the
op
like?
How
would
those
folks
access,
prescription
and
treatment.
D
D
So
I
just.
I
just
hope
that
we
can
create
kind
of
that
that
community
system
that
that
really
makes
this
really
accessible
and
easy
for
people
to
get
them.
Who
will
who
will
need
them?
So
anything
we
can
do
to
be
supportive,
I'm
I'm
certainly
very
supportive
of
commissioners.
Any
other
questions
for
now
all
right.
Thank
you.
So
much
stacey.