SALISBURY — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 Response Team has labeled 14 new counties across the state as being at “high risk” for illness due to the virus, and one of them is next door.

In the new report, released on Wednesday, the number of “high risk” counties hiked from last week’s number of four to 18 this week.

Among the counties that are now most at-risk is Davie County, which neighbors Rowan County.

Rowan remains listed at a “medium” risk level after having been elevated from “low-risk” status on June 15.

460 positive cases have been reported in Rowan County over the past two weeks, a figure that does not include any potential cases where people have not been tested or are asymptomatic.

This represents a slight decrease in previous numbers for similar periods since June but comes at the same time that the BA.5 Omicron variant has become the country’s leading cause of new COVID cases.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a number of prominent variants, including Alpha, Beta, Delta, and most recently, Omicron. According to information from the World Health Organization, the Omicron variant was not as severe as earlier variants, but it was more easily spread.

The Center for Disease Control continues to warn that variants will continue to develop, and at the beginning of July, one of those subvariants, BA.5, made up more than 50% of cases in the United States, making it the predominant variant in this country, according to the CDC. A related variant, BA.4, was also on the rise, making up about 17% of cases.

Rowan County Public Health encourages people to get vaccinated and get their booster shots. Additionally, the department is encouraging people to practice the three Ws (wearing a mask, washing hands and watching physical distance) if they are in large crowds, traveling to other areas where the risk is medium or high, inside buildings where the ventilation may not be as good, and/or around high-risk individuals.

More information about where to get tested in Rowan County is available at www.rowancountync.gov.