FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Iredell County Health Department reported another surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations on Monday.

Some 380 new laboratory confirmed cases were reported Monday, increasing the total number of positive cases to 20,662 since the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020.

The number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization in the county also continued to increase over the weekend. Thirty-five people who have tested positive are now hospitalized in Iredell, up by more than 50 percent since early last week.

Also on Monday, the Health Department reported the county’s latest death attributed to COVID-19. There have now been 239 deaths in Iredell tied to COVID-19.

Local health officials do not release personal information about COVID-19 patients, including those who pass away.

The wave of new cases and hospitalizations came on the heels of Health Director Jane Hinson’s public appeal for residents to get vaccinated and wear masks.

“Once you or a loved one gets infected, it’s too late to be vaccinated,” Hinson wrote in an op-ed over the weekend. “Even with the best medical care and treatment, some people will die. Some will be hospitalized for weeks and months as they are trying to be weaned off a ventilator. Many others, even some who had mild illness, will suffer from “long COVID-19” for many months, making it difficult to function in a normal capacity.”

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Read Jane Hinson’s Viewpoint HERE.