With just days left before the deadline, Granville Vance Public Health is asking community members to complete an online community health opinion survey.
You may have received a postcard in the mail about this as well.
The survey is confidential and may take about 20 minutes to complete.
The Granville-Vance Health District reported Wednesday almost 400 new cases of COVID-19 in the past seven days across the two counties.
There have been 194 new cases in Vance County, and 202 new cases in Granville County, according to the report. Those numbers represent a 15.4 percent positivity rate in Vance and a 7.1 percent positivity rate in Granville.
GVPH Director Lisa Harrison noted, however, that those numbers likely will rise. “Lots of tests and lab entries are being made and transferred this week and we know these numbers will go up a significant amount in short order,” the report stated.
“The numbers reported today (Wednesday) from the state system above do not yet reflect the cases our team entered today which exceed another 200 cases reported to us,” Harrison said in a footnote included in the report.
All data, as well as outbreaks and clusters, are reported through the NC Electronic Disease Surveillance System and are available for review on the state’s data dashboard here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/.
According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, the numbers reported by the state mean that both counties are considered in the “high community transmission” category.
To date, there have been 7,665 cases of COVID-19 in Vance and 8,901 cases in Granville County for a total of 16,566 across the health district.
Deaths as a result of COVID-19 are 104 in Vance and 107 in Granville, for a total of 211 deaths across the health district.
For those who may want to calculate percentages, the total population of Vance County is 44,535 and 60,443 for Granville County.
Visit CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard find the most recent information about COVID-19. Relevant graphs from these dashboards are available on our website at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/
In Vance County:
In Granville County:
GVPH has administered 35,338 vaccines – 18,248 first doses and 17,090 second doses, an increase of 52 from last week’s numbers of 35,286 total vaccines, including 18,219 first doses and 17,067 second doses.
Vance County’s percent positive rate for COVID-19 stands at 11.5 percent, more than double Granville County’s rate, according to information provided by Granville-Vance Public Health from the CDC COVID Data Tracker. Vance’s positivity rate also surpasses the state’s overall daily percent positive rate, which currently is 10.5 percent.
Health officials from Dr. Anthony Fauci to GVPH Health Director Lisa M. Harrison continue to urge everyone who is eligible to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, especially with the holidays looming and omicron cases surging.
In the past seven days, there have been 168 new cases in Vance County. According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, that represents high community transmission, Harrison wrote in the GVPH update.
Similarly, in Granville County during the same period, 141 new cases have been reported. Granville’s percent positivity rate is 5.2 percent, but Harrison noted that still represents high community transmission.
Recent discussion in Granville County centered around the rationale for including inmates of the Butner federal prison in the totals for Granville County. Harrison’s report included a breakdown of inmates versus community residents with COVID-19. According to the update, there are 13 inmates at the Butner facility who have tested positive for COVID-19 and also 13 county residents who work at the prison who have tested positive.
“All data we report are in residents of each of our two counties only, and regardless of where those residents lay their head down at night within our county jurisdiction, those cases represent community spread. All outbreaks and clusters are reported through the NC Electronic Disease Surveillance System and are available for review on the state’s data dashboard here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/,” the update stated.
There have been 7,454 cases of COVID-19 in Vance County and 8,685 cases of COVID-19 in Granville County for a total of 16,139 across the health district.
Granville County has documented 106 deaths as a result of COVID-19 and Vance County has a total of 104 deaths for a total of 210 deaths across the health district.
For those who may want to calculate percentages, the total population of Granville County according to the latest census, is 60,443 and the population of Vance County is 44,535.
While health experts are encouraged that the omicron variant doesn’t seem to be as severe as the Delta variant, the transmissibility rate is quite high.
“The omicron variant of COVID-19 is upon us across NC and the US,” Harrison stated. “We know how to protect people from severe illness and we have the tools needed to do it. They include: vaccination, boosting, masking, testing, distancing, hand-washing and improved ventilation when we are in enclosed spaces with others.”
Those things all work best in a layered approach. No one thing is perfect, but added up together, lives are saved and respect is shown to our valued health care system workforce who are very much hoping for a little holiday rest here and there – we have the power to give them a break if we follow these public health mitigation approaches.
“We do expect cases to go up significantly in the coming weeks from omicron, and so far, it is still true today at least, that all indictors are pointing to omicron causing less severe illness than Delta,” Harrison said. However, since omicron is still so much more contagious than other forms of COVID-19, there will be larger case numbers but we will still likely see increases in hospitalizations and death as well – those hospitalizations and death continue to occur mostly in unvaccinated individuals. Omicron is also reaching younger populations more easily, so we need to keep an eye on that, too.”
To date, GVPH has administered 35,286 vaccines including 18,219 first doses and 17,067 second doses.
Vance County details:
Granville County details:
Stay informed about trends across the state and nation by visiting the CDC Data Tracker by County and the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard. Relevant graphs from these dashboards are available on the GVPH website at https://gvph.org/covid-19_dashboard/.
A local doctor — Dr. Shauna Guthrie, a Henderson family physician — was installed as President-Elect of the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians (NCAFP) for a one-year term during the organization’s annual meeting in Asheville this weekend.
Guthrie presently is the medical director at Granville Vance Public Health, the local district health department where she also provides full scope outpatient primary care services. She is also owner of Sunflower Direct Primary Care in Henderson.
She has been on the board of the NCAFP for the past six years and this year served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the NCAFP Executive Committee.
More than 500 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students attended the NCAFP’s Annual Meeting.
This information was provided to WIZS from Henderson resident Greg Griggs, Executive Vice President of NCAFP.
The bottom line on CV-19 vaccine is if you want a shot you can get a shot, including first and second doses as well as boosters and for children age 5 and older.
As Granville-Vance Public Health Director Lisa Harrison explained in a weekly email she publishes, “You can come in any day of the week to either location of the health department from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. to receive any CV-19 vaccine being offered – first doses, second doses, booster doses, and even pediatric doses are all available. Only Pfizer is authorized for kiddos, but we have all three types available – Pfizer, Moderna, and J & J depending on what you are eligible for and interested in. Come see us.”
Harrison continued that the data are abundantly clear that getting vaccinated is much safer than not getting vaccinated. She cited a report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and wrote that “unvaccinated individuals are five times (or 564%) more likely to get COVID-19 as vaccinated individuals.”
She said the next page of the NCDHHS report said that “unvaccinated individuals are 25.30 times (or 2,530%) more likely to die of COVID-19 as vaccinated individuals.”
Lastly, she wrote that it’s important to get a flu shot.
In the seven day period ending Friday, there were 64 new cases in Vance County. The percent positivity rate in Vance County is 5.2%.
In the seven day period ending Friday, there were 62 new cases in Granville County. The percent positivity rate in Granville County is 3.5%.
Granville County has a total of 102 deaths as a result of CV19 and Vance County has a total of 102 deaths.
In Vance County, 66% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of their CV19 vaccine and 61% are fully vaccinated.
In Granville County, 71% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of their CV19 vaccine and 67% are fully vaccinated.
71% of the adult population in NC is at least partially vaccinated and 67% of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
In the past 7 days, there have been 146 new cases in Vance County, a 17% decrease from the previous 7 days. The percent positivity rate in Vance County is 7.4%.
In the past 7 days, there have been 141 new cases in Granville County, a 17.5% decrease from the previous 7 days. The percent positivity rate in Granville County is 4.8%.
In Vance County, 62% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of their CV19 vaccine and 57% are fully vaccinated.
In Granville County, 68% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of their CV19 vaccine and 64% are fully vaccinated.
69% of the adult population in NC is at least partially vaccinated and 64% of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
— courtesy of Granville-Vance Public Health
In the past 7 days, there have been 127 new cases in Vance County, a 51% increase from the previous 7 days. The percent positivity rate in Vance County is 5.2%. According to the CDC Data Tracker, there is high community transmission in Vance County.
In the past 7 days, there have been 227 new cases in Granville County, a 33% increase from the previous 7 days. The percent positivity rate in Granville County is 6.3%. According to the CDC Data Tracker, there is high community transmission in Granville County.
In Vance County, 59% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of vaccine and 53% are fully vaccinated.
In Granville County, 64% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of vaccine and 59% are fully vaccinated.
In North Carolina Friday, there were 8,105 newly reported cases. The daily percent positive rate is 12.8%.
As of Friday in the state, there were 3,651 hospitalized.
65% of the adult population in NC is at least partially vaccinated and 60% of the adult population is fully vaccinated!
— courtesy of Granville-Vance Public Health
In the past 7 days, there have been 84 new cases in Vance County, a 22% decrease from the previous 7 days. The percent positivity rate in Vance County is 5.7%. According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, there is high community transmission in Vance County.
In the past 7 days, there have been 171 new cases in Granville County, a 50% increase from the previous 7 days. The percent positivity rate in Granville County is 4.6%. According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, there is high community transmission in Granville County.
In Vance County, 57% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccine and 52% are fully vaccinated.
In Granville County, 63% of those over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccine and 58% are fully vaccinated.
64% of the adult population in NC is at least partially vaccinated and 59% of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month and staff from the Granville-Vance Health Department were on Monday’s Town Talk to discuss the services available to new mothers and mothers-to-be through the federally funded program Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
“Breastfeeding is an integral part of our program,” said Lauren Faulkner, WIC director and who is also a certified lactation counselor.
WIC, a federal program administered through the health department, supports at-risk women and children by providing them with resources, nutritional guidance and more.
Faulkner and Savannah Presley, GVPH lactation coordinator and a board-certified lactation consultant, spoke with John C. Rose about the importance of breastfeeding for the health and well-being of mothers and babies.
“We have lots of work to do in Granville and Vance counties,” Faulkner said, referring to the numbers of mothers who continue to breastfeed their babies. About 70 percent of pregnant moms start out breastfeeding, but that number drops to just over 40 percent by the time the baby is six weeks old. It drops to 21 percent for those moms who continue to breastfeed their children at six months of age
There are many reasons for this drop, Presley said. Some moms have to go back to work or school and some moms may not have a strong social or family network, she added. .
There’s also the misconception that formula is an equivalent to breast milk, and Presley said the general lack of knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding contribute to a lower-than-desired breastfeeding rate.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that new mothers give their babies breastmilk exclusively – no supplementation – for the first six months, and then continue tp breastfeed until the child is one year old.
“Breastfeeding offers many benefits for both the nursing parent and the baby,” Presley said, including a reduction in risk of various chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes and can burn those extra calories to help women return to their pre-pregnancy weight quicker.
The baby receives antibodies that are critical to ward off health problems from allergies to a range of digestive issues, she said.
“Breast-fed babies tend to be less sick than formula-fed babies,” she said.
It certainly is more economical to breastfeed than it is to buy formula, Presley noted. There’s no need to buy pricey powdered formula, bottles or other paraphernalia.
She said the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends “exclusive breastfeeding – no other supplementation – for the first six months of life, and (to) continue breastfeeding for a year or longer.”
Continuing to breastfeed until a child is two years or older provides additional benefits, she said, including receiving additional protein and immunoglobulin – the stuff that boosts the immune system. The milk composition actually changes over time to provide appropriate nutrients for the growing child.
But moms aren’t the only ones who can feed a baby breast milk. Mothers can pump milk, which allows others to give the baby a bottle. In addition, “skin to skin” contact is critical for a newborn, Presley said. It helps an infant regulate body temperature and heart rate, as well as establishing a bond between mother and child to stimulate milk production.
The colostrum that an infant receives after birth is vital and Presley said that, although it’s in small doses, this “liquid gold” is key to getting a baby off to a healthy start.
All appointments are by phone at this time, because of COVID-19 restrictions.
For more information, contact the WIC department in Vance County at 252.492.
3147, and for Granville County, 919.693.1333.
For complete details and audio click play.
