NC ... 3,200 new COVID cases, the highest number since February

[littlemissmartypants]

NC reports over 3,200 new COVID cases, the highest number since February
BY LEAH BOYD
JULY 29, 2021 01:21 PM, UPDATED JULY 29, 2021 02:01 PM

North Carolina reported the highest number of new daily COVID-19 cases since late February, according to the North Carolina DHHS COVID-19 dashboard Thursday.

https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard

The state reported 3,268 new cases, up 635 from Wednesday’s 2,633 new cases. The News & Observer reported Wednesday that average new daily cases have gone up sixfold in the last month due to the spread of the delta variant — a more transmissible form of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 — largely among people who have not been vaccinated.
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The positivity rate on Tuesday, the last data available, was 9.3%. The rate had climbed to over 10% on July 25. It has increased daily since July 21 when 6.4% of total tests were positive. The positivity rate had fallen to under 2% in June but was last under 5% on July 15.

Health officials have said a rate of less than 5% is an indication that the spread of the coronavirus is slowing. A rate above 5% indicates that the virus is continuing to spread.

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As of Wednesday, North Carolina has averaged over 1,900 new cases per day over the last week. The state was averaging just over 300 new cases per day at the end of June and over 400 by the first week of July.

More, including video, at the link.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article252957408.html

[brewens]

1. Tougher to save and spread it to how many more than those seen in February as well?

If it's really that more contagious now, we're gonna find out.

[Lonestarblue]

2. Covid has become the Republican pandemic.

Democratic states have far higher rates of vaccination and thus far lower rates of Covid. This surge is a Republican failure, and the media should describe it as such. Republican governors and representatives refused to support masks and the vaccine, both of which helped the virus to spread and it has become a red state issue. If red states had vaccination rates similar to blue states, we would be having very few cases of Covid now.

[Ligyron]

3. Pffffft that's nothing.

Come to Florida where freedumb from mask tyranny abounds And new variants are being cooked up in millions of human petri dishes.

[GB_RN]

4. And Our Governor, A Dem...

I’d letting his statewide mask mandate expire.🤦‍♂️

[SheltieLover]

5. I just returned from a trip to the Charlotte region

Nobody was wearing a mask. It's as if they are completely unaware of what is happening!

I stopped in a gas station along the way & the cashier came to open the door for me. Yes, people really are that nice there!

Anyway, she opened the dior, kind of smirked, in a friendly sort of way & said, "We don't require masks."

I told her, "Thank you ma'am, but I do."

I love your state, LMSP!

[littlemissmartypants]

6. It loves you back, SheltieLover. ❤

[SheltieLover]

7. Ty, Sweetie!

Broke my heart to have to return to TN...for now.

[littlemissmartypants]

8. YW! Hold fast to your dreams. ❤

[SheltieLover]

9. I am.

Ty!

[MyMission]

10. I think the CDC really messed up the mask guidance

(This obviously turned into a rant! Oh well, thanks for listening.)

They caved to whiney pressure from folks to rescind the mandate, and crunched numbers to justify doing so. I hope our governor will continue with one, but states that do are "going against" the CDC. States act based on their constituents, governors, legislatures. The CDC provides the federal guidance and states (and individuals and corporations) interpret and take it from there.

Yesterday I stopped at a grocery store after work.
I've see the sign on the door before, on other stores, but it really struck me this time.
Don't recall the exact words, but essentially it conveyed that

CDC says if you're vaccinated you don't need to wear a mask!

My thought was oh? I know better but most people follow that guidance.

So, when the CDC flip flops again and advocates for masks many will comply.
But so many people won't wear one until it's "required" not just highly recommended. Whatever behaviors states might mandate and fight about (governor, legislatures, mayor's, etc) regarding masks, the CDC is the agency that has the overall ultimate responsibility to guide us.

They are supposed to be the Center for Disease Control! They're not doing a great job.

Having said that, I've actually seen more people wearing masks in the last week. My coworkers have all started again, and when someone comes into the store and sees all of us (compared to just me and 1 other) wearing a mask they are more likely to put one on. Peer pressure? Conformity? A dose of reality?

In my little red western NC tourist town, the infection and hospitalization rates are very high.
My boss, who was born and raised here and knows a lot of people, gets a lot of inside information. Her MD told her she is no longer going into the supermarket due to the high positivity rate. Also told her about how the local hospital is swamped by cases.

I've been following the numbers here and across the country. I am a statistician by training, although I no longer work. Still, I read numbers, follow and analyze trends, and understand how data {and analysis) can be used or misused, misrepresented, manipulated, omitted, and misinterpreted.

The numbers and trends in NC and across the country (and the world) tell me we are (still) in a pandemic that won't just disappear, and we need to exercise extreme caution.

Be safe. Wear a mask!