By Nathan Ham
Residents and travelers in Avery County were greeted with a sign at the county line on N.C. Highway 105 to heed all advisories and orders in regards to staying safe during this COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
“We put our emergency management road sign up on 105 just to help with some information in that high traffic area,” said Avery County Manager Phillip Barrier. “We only have one sign so we may take it around and park it different places.”
While there is only so much information that can be put on the electronic sign, it does remind people of the two most critical safety guidelines.
“We want to practice social distancing because that’s the only thing we have right now that is proven that we can do. It’s another opportunity to get the word out on that and we are recommending that if you stay the night anywhere in the United States and you come back here, you should self-quarantine for 14 days,” said Barrier.
Avery County has a phone number set up for people to have their questions answered about the coronavirus guidelines and also the county’s website has reliable, up-to-date information for the public. The call center number is 828-373-0091. All Avery County coronavirus info online can be found here. As of Monday morning, there have been no positive tests in the county for COVID-19. There are nine tests still pending according to the Avery County website.
With the numerous second-home owners and gated communities around Avery County, residents appear to be taking the self-quarantine and stay-at-home orders seriously.
“I have had very positive feedback from the majority of our gated communities that they are taking extra preventative steps on top of what the county is doing so that is great. It is definitely a community and county effort,” said Barrier.
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