Forsyth County labeled high risk for COVID spread, indoor masking advised

Forsyth is one of thirteen North Carolina counties that are currently considered high risk for COVID-19 spread. Local officials are making some recommendations to help drive those case numbers down.

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention recently changed Forsyth County to the color orange on its COVID-19 Community Level map. This means the area is considered to be at high risk for illness or strain on the health care system.

What pushed Forsyth into the orange was the number of new cases — 963 were reported the week of June 4. Local health officials say some good news is cases are starting to go down and the number of deaths has stayed pretty level. But hospitalizations and percent positive are up in the community.

The CDC recommends that people in orange counties wear a well-fitted mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Joshua Swift is the director of the Forsyth County Health Department.

“We would really encourage people to make that decision for themselves about whether to mask or not — but also again staying up to date with your vaccines and boosters, improved ventilation indoors when possible and then get tested if you get sick and follow quarantine and isolation recommendations from the CDC,” says Swift.

Free at-home COVID-19 test kits are available at the Forsyth County Department of Public Health and all county libraries.

Other Piedmont counties with high community levels are Surry, Yadkin and Davie Counties

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