Swain County’s death toll from COVID-19 is now at 21 people, including two additional deaths this past week. Like much of the United States and particularly the South, community spread is high in Swain County as the Delta variant continues to spread among the unvaccinated.
Swain County currently had 97 active cases on Tuesday and one person hospitalized, according to the health department. The county is also reporting three outbreaks at its long-term care and correctional facilities.
“Trends are headed in the wrong direction; community transmission is high. Over the past 30 days we have had 291 New COVID-19 cases. I encourage everyone to vaccinate, social distance and wear their masks,” said Swain County Health Director Alison Cochran, MHS, REHS by email Tuesday.
She pointed out the Delta variant is more transmissible than the original COVID-19 virus that led to a large number of cases this past winter. On average, the variant will infect 5-6 more people instead of 2.
“This is impacting case numbers locally and statewide. Vaccination is still the best way to protect against all strains of COVID-19,” she said.
Over the past 14 days, Swain County was reporting 133 cases through Tuesday. Statewide, there were 5,351 newly reported cases on Tuesday, a 14.6% daily percent positive with 3,612 people currently hospitalized. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 14,468 deaths have been attributed to the virus statewide.
With more of the population vaccinated, the majority of the positive cases are among those who have not had a vaccine, Cochran said.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released last week new data in its weekly respiratory surveillance report showing unvaccinated people were 15.4 times or 1,540 percent more likely to die from COVID-19 over the past four weeks.
Those who were unvaccinated were also found to be 4.4 or 440% more likely to catch the virus than people with the vaccine over the past week. Among teens, that number was even higher—12 to 17 times. North Carolina has been experiencing the fastest acceleration in cases and hospitalizations since the pandemic started.
The state reemphasized the need for more vaccinations.
"The vast majority of people dying with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. If you are not vaccinated, please don’t wait until it is too late," said Mandy K. Cohen, M.D., Secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services. "The authorized and approved vaccines have been through rigorous clinical trials and met scientific standards. Millions of North Carolinians have been safely vaccinated."
The CDC is still recommending everyone wear a mask indoors in public spaces.
Exposure, quarantining
Cochran provided the following guidance regarding exposure and contacts among those who test positive.
Any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 must isolate away from others for at least 10 days.
Any individual who is exposed as a close contact to a positive case must quarantine according to the following guidelines:
For vaccinated individual with direct exposure to a positive person
if asymptomatic (no symptoms) they do not need to quarantine
wear mask when around other people for 14 days
recommended to test 3-5 days after exposure
if symptomatic they must quarantine for a minimum of 14 days (and 10 days from symptom onset)
For unvaccinated individual with direct exposure to a positive person
quarantine for a minimum of 7 days (can return on day 8 if no symptoms and has a negative test on or after the 5th day)
if they choose not to test they must quarantine a minimum of 10 days and have no symptoms during quarantine
if they have any symptoms they must quarantine for at least 14 days ( and 10 days from symptom onset)
Children who have a close contact exposure in the school setting do not have to quarantine if both children are appropriately masked.
CDC and NCDHHS recommend that masks be worn by everyone in public indoor spaces to reduce transmission of COVID-19.