New Hanover County issued the following announcement on Oct. 7.
New Hanover County Public Health officials continue to urge residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as countywide metrics show signs of improvement following spikes in August and September.
“Our community’s collective action in wearing masks is starting to pay off, but we still have more work to do to keep our community safe this fall and holiday season,” said Public Health Director David Howard. “The county’s percent positivity is down to 6.1 percent, whereas just a month ago we were at nearly 14 percent. While this is great news, the reality is that new cases of COVID-19 in our community remain high. We have had more than 400 new cases and 10 deaths reported over the past week from COVID-19. The virus is still here and is a very real threat to the health of our residents. We know that wearing a mask and getting vaccinated is a powerful combination in building protection from COVID-19, so we encourage everyone to keep up these measures to stay healthy as we go into the holiday season.”
The public health requirement regarding face coverings indoors has been in place since August 20, in response to high levels of community transmission, percent positivity rate, hospitalizations, and deaths related to COVID-19. Since then, the county’s percent positivity rate has dropped by more than half of August’s peak rate of 14 percent, but other key COVID-19 metrics remain high.
Original source can be found here.
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