Buncombe County reduces restaurant capacity to 30%, meetings to 2

As cases increase in Buncombe County and hospitalizations nearly reach critical levels, new restrictions are limiting restaurant capacity and mass meeting limits, as officials make a final appeal to residents to celebrate the holidays safely. .

In an announcement on December 23, Buncombe County and Asheville announced a new order limiting restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries to 30% of their declared fire capacity, below 50%. Internal meetings with people outside the home were restricted from 10 to two.

The measures take effect on January 2 and apply to the city of Asheville, Montreat and areas not incorporated in the county.

Buncombe County Commissioners Council President Brownie Newman and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer joined County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders and Emergency Preparedness Director Fletcher Tove in the announcement of the measure December 23.

Update COVID-19: COVID-19: What you need to know December 23 in Asheville, WNC

Saunders said that cases and hospitalizations continue to grow in the municipality and that “what we know is that when people are in spaces or environments where they feel comfortable or can take off masks, this is where we see more transmission”.

This includes restaurants, where she said the clusters were identified along with family gatherings, workplaces and doctor’s offices.

The provisions adopted on December 23 “aim to reduce situations in which people gather nearby in crowded indoor environments and where the use of a protective face mask or facial cover is impossible or often not used,” he said. Newman.

The restaurant’s capacity limit does not affect outdoor dining, and Newman emphasized that the change is not a result of restaurants not following current guidelines.

“The vast majority worked tirelessly” to keep people safe, he said, but “to have people from different families sit around a table inside the house, just a few meters from each other for 30 minutes or an hour or more, without masks, is the perfect environment for the dissemination of COVID-19. “

The measure will not take effect until January 2, he said, to give companies and people time to prepare, although the “vast majority of individuals and companies” are wearing masking mandates.

“Unfortunately, despite these great efforts, COVID is spreading rapidly,” said Newman.

He also cited CDC research showing that people infected with COVID-19 were twice as likely to report having been at a restaurant in the previous two weeks compared to people who avoided the virus.

The research also showed that COVID-19 can be transmitted to people at tables more than two meters away based on the building’s ventilation, he said. The survey also shows that reducing the restaurant’s capacity may limit the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s fair to ask, ‘Why the additional focus on indoor dining?'” Said Newman. “There are currently no other business environments where people are allowed to meet without wearing masks for long periods of time.”

The other policy change, limiting internal meetings of people from different families to two from 10, said Newman, is because “our health officials believe that these internal meetings of people from different families are a significant factor in the growth of COVID disease in Buncombe Municipality. “

These measures are something that the authorities do only with real regret, he added, saying that “this has been a terrible year for many of our local businesses and the workers in our community. Increasing these difficulties is the last thing we want to do and we recognize that these policies create real difficulties for many. “

Tove said the local police will be counted on to help the county task force enforce the measures, driven by complaints that must be sent to local police non-emergency lines.

The orientation of the local mass meeting now reduces indoor meetings to two, he said, but the outdoor meeting limits remain at 50

Any company or sector with collection limits already set, such as stores or spaces for events, will still follow this orientation, said Tove. “This new limit of two people is for social gatherings that can take place outside the defined sectors, such as meetings at home or in a public space”.

In addition to these two changes, he said the county will remain in line with Governor Roy Cooper’s other executive orders, including the 10 pm curfew that remains in effect.

Manheimer asked residents to “be extremely careful while on vacation” and connect with family and friends virtually or over the phone this year, saying she is also changing her vacation plans.

“I know this is difficult,” she said. “In many ways, this was a year like no other and the way we are celebrating the holidays is also very different.”

She said her family is gathering outside, but she will not be able to see her brother, newborn, or sister, having not seen her brothers since before the pandemic.

With the vaccine being launched in Buncombe County, she called for continued surveillance, as “we can see the light at the end of the tunnel”.

Saunders asked for the same, asking residents to keep the three Ws and saying that “Thanksgiving Day showed us that people who met with others outside the home did not practice the three Ws and let their guard down.”

Washing hands, wearing masks and waiting two meters from each other reduces the spread of the virus, she said.

“We saw and continue to see that when people are in environments where they are very close to each other without wearing a mask, we see exposure and spread,” said Saunders. “These simple and easy steps are very important in stopping the spread as we launch the vaccine.”

On the first day of vaccine application, December 23, the county administered 150 doses, she said, and the county will continue to implement the vaccine based on the state’s structure.

More: Buncombe County starts giving COVID-19 vaccines. See who will get the vaccine and when.

The main results, Saunders said, are “trends are not improving, celebrate the holidays at your home and remember that if you were tested before the holidays, a negative test is not a guarantee. Keep using the three Ws . “

The number of COVID-19 tests that tested positive in Buncombe County rose well above the 5% that local health officials intended, now registering 8.3% with more than 8,000 tests administered per week, Saunders said.

A month ago, on November 23, the test’s positive rate was 4.7%, she said.

The county is also adding about 135 cases per day on average, Saunders said, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic in Buncombe County to 8,220 cases and 143 deaths.

According to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services, Buncombe totaled 2,561 cases in December, almost a third of all cases since the beginning of the pandemic, at 31.15%.

Hospitalization numbers are reaching critical levels well, with Newman saying that several Mission Hospital doctors and nurses he spoke with expressed concern that the hospital may be overburdened if the trend continues.

Just 30 days ago, there were 81 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in 18 western counties, he said. Today, that number is over 200.

At Mission, he said that the percentage of inpatient beds occupied with COVID-19 patients rose from 3.9% to almost 10%, and the number of ICU beds with COVID-19 patients increased from 11% to 21%.

“In the last month, we were alarmed to see the sharp increase not only in the number of cases, but also in the rapid increase in the number of people who get sick so much because of COVID-19 who need hospitalization,” said Newman.

At Mission Health, the number of hospitalizations remained stable from December 22 to 23, with a total of 134 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients at five hospitals in the area as of 7:30 am on December 23, confirmed spokeswoman Nancy Lindell . that number is tied with the highest number the mission has ever reported.

Of these, 114 are at Mission Hospital in Asheville, four at Angel Medical Center in Franklin, nine at Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, five at Mission Hospital McDowell in Marion and two at Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard.

As cases increase in Buncombe County and hospitalizations almost reach critical levels, new restrictions are limiting restaurant capacity and mass meeting limits, as officials make a final appeal to residents to celebrate holidays safely. .

In an announcement on December 23, Buncombe County and Asheville announced a new order limiting restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries to 30% of their declared fire capabilities, below 50%. Internal meetings with people outside the home were restricted from 10 to two.

The measures take effect on January 2 and apply to the city of Asheville, Montreat and areas not incorporated in the county.

Buncombe County Commissioners Council President Brownie Newman and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer joined County Public Health Director Stacie Saunders and Emergency Preparedness Director Fletcher Tove in the announcement of the measure December 23.

Update COVID-19: COVID-19: What you need to know, December 23 in Asheville, WNC