Forsyth reported Friday 66 new cases and no additional COVID-19 related deaths.
On Thursday, Forsyth reported 102 new cases â the highest daily case count since 143 on Feb. 25.
By comparison, Forsyth reported 29 cases Tuesday, the lowest daily count since 13 on April 5.
The average daily case count of 74 over the past two weeks is up from 45 in the previous two-week period, according to Forsyth health director Joshua Swift.
âOver the last two weeks, our highest number of cases are in that 15- to- 24-age range, followed by 25- to 34-year-olds,â Swift said.
Swift said that just 20% of those ages 18 to 24 in Forsyth are considered as fully vaccinated, along with 27% in the 25 to 49 age range.
The single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is available again after two federal agencies decided Friday to end an 11-day pause.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration added a warning label about the potential for rare blood clots with the J&J vaccine.
The vaccine had been used in more than 6.8 million Americans before the pause, included 253,338 in North Carolina as of Friday.
The FDA and CDC said in a joint statement that they âhave confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19.â
Local and state health officials said this week that the fate of the J&J vaccine might play a major role in whether North Carolina can reach COVID-19 herd immunity levels by the June 1 goal set by Gov. Roy Cooper.
Novant Health Inc., Wake Forest Baptist Health and the Forsyth County Department of Public Health are offering more walk-in vaccination slots, as experts say the drop in requests for the vaccine may slow herd immunity.Â
Novant is providing walk-in vaccinations at its Hanes Mall site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. The number of walk-in slots is subject to available supply each day.
People with appointments can opt for a walk-in appointment or reschedule for an earlier slot at www.GetVaccinated.org.
Walk-in vaccinations allow people to get their doses in the flow of their lives, said Dr. David Priest, an infectious disease expert with Novant.
The fulltime and in-person learning option for students is known in North Carolina as Plan A. In March, Gov. Roy Cooper gave the go-ahead for older students to return to their schools if they want in March.
Superintendent Tricia McManus was at Mount Tabor greeting students as they entered the building. The students wore a purple sticker on their clothing, indicating that they had been screened.Â
Though no longer recommended by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, McManus said the district will continue screening for at least a few weeks. For some students, they haven t been on campus at all. The screening process is something that paints a picture of why it s important to not come to school if you ve been exposed to COVID or if you have symptoms, McManus said. These next two weeks, we are getting them used to why we re asking those questions in the first place. This is part of our education process and then we ll start to ease off.
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