Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

COVID-19 percent positive rate was 8.6 percent

POLK COUNTY—Polk County hit a high last week with COVID-19 cases, picking up another 50 positive cases. 

The county’s percent positive rate was 8.6 percent, according to the latest data sent Friday afternoon by the Polk County Division of Public Health. 

The division of public health also sent out an update last Wednesday saying it had 40 new cases of the virus since Saturday. The data said of those cases in just a few days, 30 percent were in people under the age of 18; 47.5 percent were in people between the ages of 18 and 55 and 22.5 percent were in people over the age of 55. 

“You too can choose to save the lives of those you love, and those you will never meet,” said Polk County Department of Health and Human Service Agency Director Joshua Kennedy in Wednesday’s announcement. “You can choose to keep kids and adults out of the hospital due to COVID-19. Don’t wait. Vaccinate.” 

Polk County now has had 1,665 positive cases since last March, compared to 1,615 case total last week. The county has added over 100 cases just in the last 3 weeks. 

The county has completed 22,971 tests for the virus. The vaccination rate in the county of fully vaccinated people remains at 39 percent. 

As of Friday, the number of Polk County residents who have been partially vaccinated is 8,689 and people fully vaccinated is 8,154, according to the division of health. 

Polk County’s positive cases overall have been mostly in people age 25-49 years old, followed by people 50-64 years old, people 65-74 years old, people 75 and above, people 0-17 and people 18-24 years old. 

Some county offices and other businesses have had to close in recent weeks because of positive cases. 

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

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.