| Spread of Coronavirus Across the United States, as of Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 13, the number of people who are confirmed to have coronavirus is now 8,052,784. And sadly, the number who have died now stands at 220,308. In North Carolina the number of people who are “laboratory-confirmed” to have coronavirus now stands at 234,481. Currently, 1,103 people are hospitalized. To date, 3,816 North Carolinians have died from coronavirus. NCDHHS estimates that as of today, 206,471 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 389. The number of Watauga County residents who have tested positive is 1,591. Of these cases, 218 are currently active. Fifty-one 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. AppHealthCare reports that 467 residents in Ashe and Watauga are currently being monitored as possibly having Covid-19. Six Ashe County County residents have died. Note: At times, discrepancies may exist been NC DHHS statistics and AppHealthCare statistics. AppHealthCare is generally the most up-to-date source for data on Covid-19 in Ashe and Watauga counties. You can get more local data from the AppHealthCare Dashboard at https://www.apphealthcare.com/covid-19-information/covid-19-data-dashboard/. The active case count at App State is now 97 students and 1 employee. All are in isolation. A cumulative count of those who have tested positive for Covid-19 is 886 students, 38 employees, and 41 subcontractors (workers on campus who were not staff or faculty). These figures are included in AppHealthCare’s daily updates, although it should be noted that students who physically reside in Ashe or Watauga County (in a dorm, apartment, or house) are counted in AppHealthCare’s totals. If a student physically resides in neighboring counties (and commutes from there to school), their data is counted in the home county. Likewise, employees who live outside Ashe and Watauga are counted in their home counties and not on the AppHealthCare website. 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 six feet apart. Wash your hands frequently. Also, as flu season is coming upon us, please get a flu shot to protect yourself and those around you. |
| Appalachian State Update: Appalachian State University released a statement on Oct. 11 announcing that there have been no documented cases of classroom transmission of COVID-19 to date. App State and Appalachian District Health Department (AppHealthCare) are working closely together to investigate and respond to any new active cases of confirmed COVID-19. App State Offering Free Testing to Students, Faculty, Staff Appalachian State University is offering free COVID-19 tests for App State students, faculty, and staff at “pop-up” testing events each Saturday in October from noon – 5 p.m. in the Rivers Street Parking Deck. Both walk-up and drive-up testing will be available. No appointments required; however, you will be asked to show your AppCard. Visit the university’s COVID-19 Testing page for information on upcoming testing events and on-going testing for students, faculty and staff. 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 Early Voting Begins on Thursday, October 15! One-stop early voting will run Oct. 15 to Oct. 31. Each voting site will be open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. every weekday. Each Saturday, sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year there are six one-stop early voting sites in Watauga County: App State – Plemmons Student Union – Blue Ridge Ballroom Blowing Rock Town Hall Deep Gap Fire Department High Country Vacation Homes (Foscoe) Western Watauga Community Center Watauga County Administration Building, Commissioners’ Board Room Ashe County: Ashe County Agriculture Building134 Government Circle, Jefferson, NC 28640(First Floor Conference Room)Board of Elections Phone Number: (336) 846-5570 The site will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 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 closed Friday, Oct. 9. If you are unable to find the answer to your question on this page, please email the Ashe County Board of Elections at asheelections@ashecountygov.com. Here are the links to your local Of Boards of Elections: Ashe Countyhttps://www.ashecountygov.com/departments/board-of-elections Watauga Countyhttp://www.wataugacounty.org/App_Pages/Dept/BOE/notices.aspx Mail-In Absentee Ballots Registered voters may request an absentee ballot through the online Absentee Ballot Request Portal (https://votebymail.ncsbe.gov/app/home) or fill out a North Carolina Absentee Ballot Request Form (https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Forms/NCAbsenteeBallotRequestForm.pdf) 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 |