The highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 is fueling a rapid increase in cases throughout Moore County and across the state.Â
On Monday, the positivity rate for coronavirus testing in Moore County stood at 12.5 percent, the highest rate reported by the local health department since late-January. Nearly 250 new infections have been identified in the county in July alone, with the month on track to surpass the combined number of cases recorded in June and May.Â
âIt is a cause for concern,â said Matt Garner, public information officer for the health department. âThe major factor driving our case numbers appears to be the more contagious delta variant and in particular, its transmissibility among those who are unvaccinated.â
About 54 percent of Moore County s COVID-19 deaths are linked to outbreaks in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, but vaccine hesitancy has persisted among local long-term care workers.
St. Joseph of the Pines recently became the second long-term care community in the area to make vaccinations mandatory for employees. The decision was announced on July 8 by Trinity Health, the company that owns St. Joseph of the Pines.
âOver the last year, Trinity Health has counted our own colleagues and patients in the too-high coronavirus death toll.â Mike Slubowski, CEO and president of Trinity Health, said in a statement. âNow that we have a proven way to prevent COVID-19 deaths, we are not hesitating to do our part.
Professional wrestler Jeff Hardy, one of Moore Countyâs most famous native sons, was reportedly forced to drop out of a sold-out event in Missouri after testing positive for COVID-19.
Hardy, a former WWE champion, was set to appear for a meet-and-greet Monday at recordBar, a nightclub in Kansas City. On Sunday, the venue announced that Hardyâs appearance had been âpostponed to a later date.â
âJeff Hardy just tested positive for covid this morning, and will have to quarantine for the next two weeks,â recordBar wrote on its Facebook page, adding that the wrestler âwill not be participating in any live events for the next two weeks.
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The county s coronavirus trends have been moving âslightly upwardâ since the end of June, according to a spokesperson for the local health department.
âMoore Countyâs weekly COVID-19 case counts have been on a slight rise over the past three consecutive weeks,â Matt Garner, public information officer for the department, said during Monday s meeting of the Moore County Board of Health. âWeâre seeing a bit of an upturn.â
The countyâs rolling, weekly average of new cases dropped to a low of 1.1 infections on June 28, according to Garner. That number has since increased, with the health department reporting a daily average of 4.3 new infections for the seven days ending Tuesday.