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County remains steady by adding 24 new COVID cases last week

POLK COUNTY—There were 3 more Polk County residents who died from COVID-19 last week. 

The county has now lost 47 residents to the virus, according to the latest data released from the Polk County Department of Health and Human Services. 

The number of cases last week remained steady with the county adding another 24 positive cases. The county’s new case number has remained in the 20s the last few weeks. 

Polk County’s new cases peaked in September, at one time adding as many as 101 new cases in 1 week. 

Last week’s percent positive rate was 5.4 percent, which was up from the last couple of weeks. The last 2 prior weeks the county’s percent positive rates have been 4.7 and 4.4 percent, according to the DHHS. 

The county has now had a total of 2,320 cases of COVID-19 since March 2020. 

As of Friday, there have been 95 people who have been hospitalized from the virus, which is an increase of 4 people since the week prior. 

The county’s percent of its population that is vaccinated remained at 43 percent last week. 

As of Friday, 9,336 Polk County residents had at least 1 dose of the vaccine and 8,881 Polk County residents are fully vaccinated, according to the county’s latest data. 

Polk County’s positive cases overall have been mostly in females at 53.55 percent last week. 

Most of the county’s cases have been in people aged 25-49, followed by people aged 50-64. The county now has more cases in people aged 0-17 than people aged 65-74. The least cases have been in people aged 75 and above and 18-24. 

Vaccines are free for anyone and are now being administered to everyone age 12 and older in North Carolina. 

Booster shots are now also available to many qualified people. 

To schedule an appointment with the county people can call the Polk County COVID message line at 828-722-5086. More information is also available on a special COVID-19 tab located at polknc.org. 

Local pharmacies are also now giving vaccines for the virus as well as for flu and pneumonia.