CHARLOTTE, NC – City offices in Boone, North Carolina have closed for one week following the outbreak of COVID-19. The message is posted on the city’s pages in social networks. Employees are working remotely until the offices reopen.
The outbreak occurred amid a post-holiday spike in the number of COVID-19 infections. Doctors at Atrium Health say hospitalizations in the Charlotte area are up again, but not at the level of last year’s post-holiday spike. Doctors attribute the increase in the number of cases to the new XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant. Doctors say it’s more transmissible, but the symptoms are less severe than previous strains of COVID-19, such as the Delta variant that overwhelmed intensive care units.
“Our hospitalizations are up, but certainly not up to the level we saw last year,” said Dr. Cathy Passaretti, Atrium Health. “We’re about 35 to 40 percent of where we were at this time last year just for context.”
Doctors say symptoms of the new subvariant include fever, runny nose, congestion, sore throat and sometimes loss of taste and smell.
“These sub-variants have different characteristics. So we saw that this was due to the recent increase in cases, the increase in variants that are more transmissible and more immune evasive, ie. you are not as protected from prior infection or especially more distant vaccination as in the past,” said Dr. Pasaretti.
People at high risk of complications from COVID-19 are advised to wear a mask in crowded public places.
“I do believe that there is a role for masking in society to try to protect those who are most at risk in these high-risk situations,” Dr. Passaretti said.
Boone City Hall is closed due to rising cases of COVID-19
Source link Boone City Hall is closed due to rising cases of COVID-19