Spread of Coronavirus Across the United States, as of Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 8, the number of people who are confirmed to have coronavirus is 6,496,457. Sadly, 193,721 people have died from the virus. In North Carolina the number of people who are “laboratory-confirmed” to have coronavirus is 178635. Currently, 827 people are hospitalized. To date, 2,909North Carolinians have died from coronavirus. NCDHHS estimates that as of Monday 156,652 have recovered. Much more data is available at the NC DHHS “Dashboard”. See https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard. Locally, the number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Ashe County is 230. The number of Watauga County residents who have tested positive is 610. Of these cases, 966 are currently active. Thirty-four people in the district have been hospitalized at some point during the outbreak. The figure includes Alleghany County which is part of the local health department district, and which is not separated out in the hospital count among counties. Two Ashe County residents have died from coronavirus. AppHealthCare reports that 208 residents in Ashe and Watauga are currently being monitored as possibly having Covid-19. You can get more local data from the AppHealth Care Dashboard at https://www.apphealthcare.com/covid-19-information/covid-19-data-dashboard/. The active case count at App State is 56 students. All are in isolation, according to the university. A cumulative count of those who have tested positive for Covid-19 is 25 employees, 238 students, and 41 subcontractors (workers on campus who were not staff or faculty). These figures are included in AppHealthCare’s daily updates The site is updated regularly. Click on the link to view more details: https://www.appstate.edu/go/coronavirus/ Our prayers are with all these people affected by coronavirus along with their families. Please follow public health officials’ guidance: Wear a face mask in public settings. Wait 6 feet apart. Wash your hands frequently. |
Early Voting Locations and Schedule Released Ashe County Thursday, Oct. 15 – Saturday, Oct. 31 Location & Hours Ashe County Agriculture Building134 Government Circle, Jefferson, NC 28640(First Floor Conference Room)Board of Elections Phone Number: (336) 846-5570 8 am – 7:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 15 – Friday, Oct. 16 8 am – 6 pm Saturday, Oct. 17 8 am – 7:30 pm Monday, Oct. 19 – Friday, Oct. 238 am – 6 pm Saturday, Oct. 248 am – 7:30 pm Monday, Oct. 26 – Friday, Oct. 308 am – 3 pm Saturday, Oct. 31 ** Voter Registration for the November 3rd General Election will close on Friday, Oct. 9, at 5 pm. Watauga CountyLocations: Watauga County Administration Building, Commissioners’ Board Room, 814 W. King Street, Boone, NC 28607Appalachian State University – Student Union Blowing Rock Town Hall, 1036 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC 28605Deep Gap Fire Department, 6583 Old 421 South, Deep Gap, NC 28618High Country Vacation Homes (Foscoe), 520 Church Road, Boone, NC 28607Western Watauga Community Center, 1081 Old US HWY 421, Sugar Grove, NC 28679 Hours 8 am-7:30 pm Oct. 15 until Oct. 30 Weekdays8 am-6 pm Saturday, Oct. 17, and Saturday, Oct. 248 am-3 pm Saturday Oct. 31 We will soon provide in newsletter format a more comprehensive guide to voting in the district. Mail-In Absentee Ballots Registered voters may request an absentee ballot through the online Absentee Ballot Request Portal, or fill out a North Carolina Absentee Ballot Request Form and return it to their county board of elections. The form is due to your local Board of Election no later than Oct. 27 for them to send you your ballot, but please remember that your ballot must be received or postmarked by Election Day (Nov. 3). To review Frequently Asked Questions about absentee voting, visit: https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/vote-mail/faqs-voting-mail-north-carolina-2020 Help During the Pandemic DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen announced recently the launch of a website that will assist those in need of things like help navigating the unemployment landscape, food assistance, or housing and shelter, among other things. The NCCARE360.org website is now interactive for all 100 counties. Go to the website to request assistance from agencies in your area: https://nccare360.org/ If You have Coronavirus Symptoms… If you believe you have symptoms of coronavirus and live in Watauga County:1) Call AppHealthCare at 828-264-4995 or (828) 795-1970 during regular business hours,2) Visit https://apprhs.org/covid19-screening/ online and follow screening instructions, or3) Call your primary care doctor. If you believe you have symptoms of coronavirus and live in Ashe County call AppHealthCare at 336-246-9449 or call your primary care doctor. More Information Our public heath office, AppHealthCare, is the primary local source of information about coronavirus. See https://www.apphealthcare.com/covid-19-information/ For more information from our hospitals, see Appalachian Regional’s website at https://apprhs.org/COVID19/ or Ashe Memorial Hospital’s website at https://www.ashememorial.org/ for their updates. For information specific to North Carolina, the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) provides the latest information on COVID-19 at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/. Also, North Carolina coronavirus updates are available by calling 888.892.1162 or by texting COVIDNC to 898211 |