As the highly contagious Delta variant continues to spread, Onslow County’s current COVID-19 case count has risen to 19,619. With over 400 new cases in the past week and a total death count of 164, county officials are urging more people to get vaccinated.
Despite local efforts to make the COVID-19 vaccine easily available, only 43% of Onslow County residents have been fully or partially vaccinated. This falls 8% short from the state average. According to Kristen Hoover, Onslow County’s public health director, these low vaccination rates have led to unnecessary stress on the county’s health care systems.
“The number of individuals hospitalized locally has increased dramatically in the month of August, so far as compared to June and July, and that is what is really concerning me. More than anything, we want to see that capacity to administer health care preserved because people need to go to those hospitals or a lot of things other than COVID.”
On Thursday, 25 Onslow County residents were hospitalized with the virus. Onslow is offering all three brands of vaccination on a walk-in basis at the Onslow County Health Department, and StarMed sites around the county are offering gift-card incentives for getting the vaccine. Hoover also urges residents to follow CDC mask guidelines to reduce the spread of the virus.