Rowan County, which recently dropped a level in COVID infections, is now back among the 62 counties in NC that are considered high, with 400 known cases, and 21 new, confirmed hospital admissions among county residents. The county’s positivity rate is now at 29%.

As the state continues to monitor the transmission levels of COVID-19, both the BA.4 and the BA.5 variants still remain very high. Both variants can easily reinfect anyone that has previously been sick with COVID-19, as well as those individuals that are vaccinated and/or boosted. The most common symptoms of both variants include sore throat, runny nose, cough, headache, fatigue and/or back pain. More importantly, unvaccinated individuals remain at a higher risk of becoming sicker, which could result in being hospitalized, and/or even death.

As the state strives to lower the level of transmission and reduce the risk of hospitalization and/or long-term effects from COVID, Rowan County Public Health continues to suggest the following things:

• Get vaccinated and/or boosted  as soon as possible. For more information on who is eligible to receive a COVID booster, visit the CDC.
• Keep at-home tests readily available to use if you are around someone positive and/or if you should start having symptoms. To learn more on how to receive free test kits at home, please visit NCDHHS or the USPS.
• If you have a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, please stay at home and follow the recommendations for isolation.
• Mask up whenever you go out in public, practice physical distancing, and continue to wash and/or hand sanitize your hands often.
• Increase the ventilation of indoor spaces by opening windows and doors; or better yet, host your event outside.

Antiviral pills, like Paxlovid and Molnupiravir, continue to be available with a prescription. If you should test positive for COVID-19, you should try to begin an antiviral within the first five days that symptoms appear. For more information on treatment, go to the NCDHHS website.

If you still need to be vaccinated/boosted against COVID-19, call Rowan County Public Health at 704-216-8777 and choose option 3 to make an appointment. Vaccines are available for all ages and include Moderna, Pfizer, J&J, and the new Novavax vaccine.