March 31, 2020 Additional positive cases of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) have been identified for Watauga County.  A Watauga County resident has tested positive for COVID-19 which brings the total positive cases of COVID-19 in Watauga County to 6. This case had travel history and contact investigation is underway. In addition to the sixth Watauga resident, there is an additional case of a person whose primary residence is outside the area that has been identified, which is currently in isolation in Watauga County. Public health staff have identified the close contacts, who have been in quarantine. / Read more…

March 31, 2020 Boone’s Winter Farmers’ Market, powered by Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, returns to Boone this Saturday, April 4th after several weeks due to COVID-19. Operating from 9-12 PM, Boone’s Winter Farmers’ Market offers fresh, healthy food for the High Country community. “Farmers’ markets are essential ways for our community to access local food. After several weeks of working with our partners across our region, the Town of Boone, and the Watauga County Farmers’ Market, Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture developed new protocols that will ensure that farmers, consumers, and our community are supported during this pandemic,” says Dave Walker, Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture’s Development Director. Boone’s Winter Farmers’ Market — in an outdoor setting — will look different from the typical Winter Farmers’ Market, but it will still have flavorful and nutrient-dense local foods available. / Read more…

March 31, 2020 Thank you for your service and support of the Bread of Life Community Kitchen at Hospitality House of Northwest North Carolina. We care deeply about your safety, always, but most especially during these unprecedented times. Executive Director Tina B. Krause is in consistent communication with AppHealthCare and we are following the county-wide protocols put in place by them. We continue to follow the lead and directives of AppHealthCare and Governor Roy Cooper as they come. It is important to note that no one here has tested positive for COVID-19. As you know, we operate 24 hours a day, serving three meals a day, and do not have the luxury of closing. We rely on you and still need your help. We still need food.. / Read more…

March 31, 2020 Watauga County, along with the Towns of Beech Mountain, Blowing Rock, Boone, and Seven Devils are continuing to urge protection of public health through all practical means possible. Effective March 31, 2020, at 5:00p.m., all residents and non residents of Watauga County arriving for overnight stays are ordered, while present in the County, to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days or until 7 days after symptoms have resolved, whichever is longer, if arrival was preceded by overnights outside the County.  The only exceptions to this provision are the commuting “essential” workforce and emergent response as coordinated through the Watauga County Emergency Services Director, AppHealthCare Director, and/or Sheriff and their designees. Short term rentals have been suspended with some limited exceptions for specifically reducing the spread of the virus. / Read more…

March 31, 2020 The Watauga Center of Daymark Recovery Services is open for business. Daymark is using Doxy.me, a confidential video conferencing platform, to provide telehealth services. This is available for anyone with a smart phone or laptop computer and internet access. The doctor or therapist will send a text message or email with a link to click on to connect. There is no need to download anything onto the client’s computer or phone. Current clients are being contacted by staff about moving in-person therapy appointments to Doxy.me. Clients needing injections or urine drug screens can come into the office as scheduled. / Read more…

March 31, 2020 As North Carolinians work to stay healthy and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, scammers are looking to take advantage of their fears. Our office has received information from federal partners about robocalls and text message scams offering bogus miracle cures, free at-home test kits, updates from government authorities, and home cleaning that scammers claim will reduce your risk of getting COVID-19. Some robocallers may also be offering help obtaining stimulus checks from the federal government. Scammers are working to take advantage of people’s fears to steal their money and personal information. / Read more…

March 31, 2020 The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to pose a looming threat to the health and safety of the people of Avery County. Avery County Government continues to be proactive. In order to provide accurate information to Avery County Citizens who have questions about Avery County’s and the State of North Carolina’s response to COVID-19 including the Executive Stay at Home Order, the Short-Term Rental Suspension, and Avery County State of Emergency, a county call-center has been set up Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The call center number is 828-373-0091. / Read more…

March 31, 2020 On March 31, 2020, during a special meeting of the Board of Governors, UNC System President Bill Roper announced that UNC System institutions will continue to be online through summer 2020. This means we will continue our online and alternative course delivery methods through the remainder of this semester and for both Summer I and Summer II sessions. Deans have already begun working with department chairs and faculty to determine which classes will be offered this summer. We are working to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, students will have access to classes they need to stay on track for their planned graduation dates. / Read more…

March 30, 2020 Effective March 31, 2020, at 5:00p.m., all residents and non-residents of Watauga County arriving for overnight stays are ordered, while present in the County, to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days or 7 days after symptoms have resolved, whichever is longer, if arrival was preceded by overnights outside the County. The only exceptions to this provision are the commuting “essential” workforce and emergent response as coordinated through the Watauga County Emergency Services Director, AppHealthCare Director, and/or Sheriff and their designees / Read more…

March 30, 2020 The next time you venture out to the grocery store, you will likely notice a little more space between you and the cashier. That’s because some local grocery stores are working to install sneeze guards to protect their workers. The transparent plexiglass partitions are designed to create more distance between cashiers and the multitude of customers coming through their lines these days. Locally, Food Lion and Harris Teeter have already installed their new plexiglass partitions. The Salisbury, NC-based grocery chain Food Lion announced on Friday afternoon that all stores install plexiglass safety guards at customer checkout areas as a social distancing measure to protect store employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. According to a press release from Food Lion, all stores should have the plexiglass in place this week. Stores in Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and Jefferson have already had theirs installed.  / Read more…

March 30, 2020 At 5 p.m. today, Governor Roy Cooper’s stay at home order will go into effect as another measure being used to combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The order will close non-essential businesses and limit social gatherings to 10 people or less. This order will remain in effect for 30 days. Gov. Cooper’s order does not change how people can travel. According to information provided from the governor’s office, while people are asked to keep driving to a minimum and stay home, vehicles will not be stopped by law enforcement for just being on the road. People can still drive to work without any special notes or paperwork. People can still go to grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, doctor’s offices or anywhere that will remain open as being deemed an “essential business.” By Nathan Ham / Read more…

March 30, 2020 You might not know Floyd “Dipper” Garrison personally, but almost everybody in Boone knows who he is. For the last 25 years, Dipper has been standing on the corner of Highway 321 and Highway 105 at the busiest intersection in Boone with his “Jesus Loves You” sign each Saturday. Dipper says he has gotten a lot of reactions over the years, both positive and negative. However, with the current COVID-19 virus impacting travel and local, state and federal governments imploring people to stay home, even he is a little surprised at the major decrease in traffic in Boone. “I was just thinking I haven’t seen it this slow since a blizzard we had one time,” Dipper says. Less traffic was not the only thing Dipper noticed from his sidewalk pulpit. “I never thought I would look over there at that gas station and see gas at $1.91. That tells you something right here,” Dipper said as he looked across the intersection to the Exxon gas station on Saturday afternoon. By Nathan Ham / Read more…

March 30, 2020 This past weekend brought lots of sunshine and warm temperatures to the High Country, including new record highs and near-record highs. Boone had the warmest March 28 on record with a high of 80.5 degrees at 4:57 p.m. That record also tied the all-time record for the month, set previously on March 25, 1929, according to data provided by Ray’s Weather Center. Beech Mountain broke its record high for the month of March by five degrees. The previous record of 71 degrees was set on March 31, 1998. On Saturday, Beech Mountain recorded a high temperature of 76.8 degrees at 3:55 p.m. In Newland, they just missed a record high temperature by about three degrees. Saturday’s high was 82.2 degrees at 1:53 p.m. The record for Newland is 85 degrees. By Nathan Ham / Read more…

March 30, 2020 Avery County Sheriff Kevin Frye announced on Wednesday, March 18, that the Sheriff’s Department will assist with delivering groceries, prescriptions and other items in the county during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Their positive effort for the community led to WBTV putting together a story on what Sheriff Frye and his department are doing to help those in need throughout Avery County. In a previous High Country Press story, Sheriff Frye announced that the service began on March 19 and has helped the elderly and those with immune system problems be able to get food and medication without having to get out of the house. / Read more…

March 30, 2020 “All state and local law enforcement agencies are tasked with enforcing Governor Cooper’s executive order which is reflected in the Watauga County State of Emergency declaration that limits mass gatherings to 10 or fewer people effective Monday, March 30. In the meantime, we know that the current order bans gatherings of 50 people or more, and we expect the community to comply with that and the new order reducing gatherings even further along with the stay at home order effective March 30th.While our goal is to have voluntary compliance as we encourage more people to stay at home and practice social distancing, we want to make certain that people are aware that violating this order may result in a Class 2 misdemeanor. / Read more…

March 30, 2020 With the first week after our “return” from extended Spring Break behind us, I would like to provide you an update from campus. Yesterday, I met with Appalachian’s Board of Trustees via teleconference and shared with them how the Appalachian Community is responding to COVID-19. You can read my full remarks here. I shared with them that we are simultaneously planning for every conceivable scenario, responding to each new circumstance, and learning to anticipate every eventuality as the ground continues to shift beneath our feet. We saw our first confirmed case of COVID-19 in an off-campus, App State student, which we shared with campus earlier today. I am pleased to share that the student who was diagnosed with the virus is now symptom-free. We shared with campus that the student has not been on campus since March 4, and has been self-quarantined since returning to the United States from overseas travel. Students who are concerned about symptoms should call Student Health Services at 828-262-3100 and ask to speak with a nurse / Read more…

March 30, 2020 By order of Governor Roy Cooper, Watauga County Schools will remain closed for students until at least May 15. Gov. Cooper’s announcement of a 30 day stay at home order means that the already limited operations of the school system will continue during this time. “We are focusing on three priorities right now,” Watauga County Schools Superintendent Scott Elliott stated. “We are working to protect the health and safety of our employees, continuing to provide educational resources and remote learning for our students, and continuing to provide free meals to all children in the community.” Elliott stated that after consultation with AppHealthCare director Jennifer Greene and Watauga County Director of Emergency Management Will Holt, the school system will continue to operate with limited staff members and will remain closed to the public. / Read more…

March 30, 2020 Watauga County, in conjunction with the Towns of Beech Mountain, Blowing Rock, Boone and Seven Devils, will be closing all playgrounds, courts, and picnic shelters, effective Monday, March 30th at 12:00pm until further notice. This is a preventive measure to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus and lessen its impact on our community. As this situation evolves rapidly, Watauga County and partner municipalities will continue monitoring usage of recreation facilities to determine if further action is warranted for social distancing. The County is taking precautions to ensure the health and safety of its residents during this rapidly changing situation. This closure also applies to school playgrounds. Childcare facilities will still operate as they are exempt from this closure. / Read more…

March 29, 2020 In North Carolina the number of people who are confirmed to have coronavirus was reported by NC DHHS this morning at 935; however, additional cases have been reported this afternoon to push the total over 1000. Currently, 87 people are hospitalized with coronavirus. Sadly, 4 North Carolinians have died from coronavirus. Four North Carolinians have died from coronavirus. Five Watauga County residents have tested positive for coronavirus. Today, Appalachian State announced that the fifth individual was an App State student who is a resident of Watauga County. To date, all individuals who tested positive had a travel history or contracted the virus from a person known to have the virus. Ashe County has no reported cases of coronavirus. / Read more…

March 28, 2020 This morning, Appalachian District Health Department (AppHealthCare) informed Appalachian State University leadership that the 5th positive case of case of COVID-19 they announced to the community yesterday was an App State student who is a resident of Watauga County and lives off campus. The student who was diagnosed with the virus is symptom-free, has not been on campus since March 4, and has been self-quarantined since returning to the United States from overseas travel, per guidelines established by the State of North Carolina and the Centers for Disease Control. While yesterday’s notification was not in accordance with our standard notification process regarding communicable disease, which is to coordinate on one, joint notification to campus and community, there is no immediate public health risk to the university community related to this case.. / Read more…

March 27, 2020 North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced a new executive order that will institute a stay-at-home order for all North Carolina residents beginning at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 30. “Our numbers continue to increase rapidly. This is a highly contagious virus that is deadly for some. To continue our aggressive battle to slow the spread of COVID-19, today I have signed a ‘stay at home’ order for the entire state of North Carolina. It’s what we have to do to save lives,” said Gov. Cooper. All essential businesses will continue to operate and no special permits will be needed to continue to operate these businesses. Violations of this order are punishable as a Class 2 Misdemeanor. “We hope it doesn’t come to that but we want people to know that this is a serious order and we want people to follow that,” said Gov. Cooper. By Nathan Ham / Read more…

March 27, 2020 Social distancing is still the most important practice to follow to avoid spreading the COVID-19 virus as much as possible. While some people may not be taking things as seriously as they should, positive COVID-19 tests continue to pop up across the state, including the first positive case in nearby Alleghany County, one of three counties with health departments operated by AppHealthCare. “We understand that social distancing and staying at home is a difficult thing to do, especially when we are not able to know a definite time when our lives will return to normal but these are important things to do for the public’s health. With the beautiful weather weekend coming up, we encourage people to continue practicing social distancing and taking preventative measures to slow the spread of this virus and use good judgment,” said Melissa Bracey, Director of Communications and Compliance at AppHealthCare. By Nathan Ham / Read more…

March 27, 2020 Getting some young people to understand the importance of following social distancing warnings and staying home as much as possible has been a problem at times. By now, everybody has seen the spring break footage on Florida beaches from last week and the week before. For three Appalachian State students, they quickly realized that this worldwide pandemic is a serious situation. Elly Murray is a senior getting ready to graduate and a former intern at the High Country Press. She has continued working locally in the High Country and she says when she got a call from her mother a couple of weekends ago, which was when the situation started to set in with her. By Nathan Ham / Read more…

March 27, 2020 On Thursday, March 27, Appalachian Regional Healthcare System (ARHS) announced a new supplemental pay program, called COVID Days Off (CDO) to assist full time and part-time employees whose hours have been reduced due to the COVID-19 crisis. Patient volume in ARHS hospitals and clinics has been drastically reduced, which means employees may be asked to work fewer hours. Chuck Mantooth, President and CEO, said that the reduction in patient volumes was self-imposed stating, “over the past two weeks, in preparation for a potential surge in COVID-19 cases, we chose to postpone elective procedures, surgeries and routine office visits in our clinics. Effectively, we set aside much of what we normally do to deal with COVID-19. Due to this decline, we asked some employees to take time off.” / Read more…

March 27, 2020 A fifth Watauga County resident has tested positive for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). This case had travel history and has been in isolation since being tested. The local public health staff have identified the close contacts, who have been in quarantine. “We have been preparing to see more cases here. Together, we will be able to move through the days ahead. We have a resilient community. I want to ask the public to remember that this situation is rapidly evolving. We all need to expect things to continue to change in the days and weeks ahead, but we are strong, and we have a lot of capable people from various organizations working to prepare us for more response efforts, ” stated Jennifer Greene, Health Director, AppHealthCare. / Read more…

March 27, 2020 Today, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued the following statement on the House’s passage of S.3548, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act: “Today the House of Representatives took steps to protect the livelihoods of American workers, families, small businesses, and essential areas that have been impacted by the scourge of COVID-19. “I am glad that we were able to resist efforts by Democrat leadership to stymie this legislation and bring bipartisan collaboration to a screeching halt. Using our nation’s public health crisis as a springboard to advance antithetical socialist provisions is unacceptable. The joint effort by Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi earlier this week to commandeer bipartisan negotiations wasted valuable time that could have been spent strengthening relief efforts. Thankfully, Republicans fought back and refocused this bill on Americans in need. / Read more…

March 27, 2020 AppHealthCare continues to provide daily updates on COVID-19 coronavirus testing from Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties. On Wednesday, AppHealthCare collected one sample from Watauga County and reported a total of 63 tests collected by the health department and a total of 103 collected from outside agencies. No new tests were collected from Ashe or Alleghany. On Thursday, AppHealthCare reported one sample collected in Ashe County, bringing the total collected by AppHealthCare to four. Ashe County has had 25 tests conducted from outside agencies. In Watauga, 23 additional tests from outside agencies were reported to AppHealthCare, bringing Watauga’s total to 126. Alleghany has had five tests collected by AppHealthCare and 13 tests from outside agencies. According to new information provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the guidelines for handling COVID-19 have changed over the last week.By Nathan Ham / Read more…

March 27, 2020 In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care remains committed to provide quality patient-centered care to patients in homes, long-term-care facilities, and their patient care units in Lenoir and Hudson. “In accordance with CDC and CMS guidelines, we are exercising precautions to keep our patients and staff safe,” says Caldwell Hospice CEO Cathy Swanson. Caldwell Hospice is in immediate need of the following new unopened items as our staff continues to serve patients in our community: / Read more…

March 27, 2020 The fourth person was confirmed to have coronavirus in Northwest North Carolina. The announcement was made this morning by AppHealthCare. Our prayers are with this individual for a fast and full recovery. The Watauga County resident had a travel history and has been in isolation since being tested. Local public health staff have identified close contacts, who have been in quarantine as well. All four individuals in NW NC, who have tested positive for coronavirus, contracted the virus during travel outside the region (or interaction with a known person who had traveled outside the region and tested positive). / Read more…

March 27, 2020 Due to the growing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases occurring across the state, Hospitality House of Northwest North Carolina will no longer offer the one night of services for individuals who are from outside their designated seven 7 county service area — Watauga, Ashe, Avery, Wilkes, Alleghany, Mitchell and Yancey — unless they are fleeing domestic violence, sexual assault or human trafficking. “This decision was not made lightly,” stated executive director Tina B. Krause. “But in an effort to help protect the environment of this facility and our community as a whole during this pandemic, we felt it necessary.” Normally, persons that arrive at Hospitality House from outside the Northwest North Carolina region are eligible for one night of shelter, meals, a hot shower, laundry facilities, private locker, public phone, computer/internet access and the option of a Sunway Charter bus pass to an available shelter the following day. / Read more…

March 27, 2020 Volunteers from churches and organizations across Watauga County have come together in some very uncertain times to help provide food resources to children and families that need it the most. With many people losing their jobs or having their hours cut back, being able to provide food for their households is a concern among many in the High Country. There are a number of groups willing to lend a helping hand. Anyone who wishes to help with food, financial donations, or volunteering can contact Health and Hunger Coalition, Hospitality House, Greenway Baptist Church Food Pantry, or Casting Bread Food Pantry through Faithbridge United Methodist Church among others. Here is a list of locations and the food services they are providing. / Read more…

March 26, 2020 There has been a major change in who qualifies to get a coronavirus test in North Carolina and it means a broad strategic shift in how we’re waging this public health battle. The good news is we’ve made real strides in the last ten days with private labs coming online. 90% of the testing in our state is now being done by private labs and we’re doing more testing per capita than most states. Here’s the bad news. Even with this added capacity, the CDC anticipates that the demand for testing will continue to outpace supply. So the CDC has put out new guidance on criteria for testing, and NC has adopted that new criteria. And the short version is this, direct from DHHS: “In general, patients with mild illness (defined as fever and cough without shortness of breath or difficulty breathing) do not need testing.” / Read more…

March 26, 2020 The Toe River Health District, which encompasses Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties, has released information that at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, a Mitchell County resident tested positive for novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The individual is currently in isolation, according to the TRHD. Mitchell County public health officials have already initiated an investigation and will be identifying close contacts to contain the spread of dangerous disease. To protect individual privacy and legal reasons, no further information about the case will be released, according to the TRHD. By Tim Gardner / Read more…

March 26, 2020 A fourth Watauga County resident has tested positive for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). This case had travel history and has been in isolation since being tested. The local public health staff have identified the close contacts, who have been in quarantine. “We recognize that another case may cause increasing concern in the community. Remember, you can help us slow the spread of this virus. Stay home to the greatest extent that you are able, especially if you are a person who is at a higher risk for severe illness. If you do become ill, call your healthcare provider or call AppHealthCare to speak with a public health staff member before going to your provider or the emergency room,” stated Jennifer Greene, Health Director, AppHealthCare. / Read more…

March 26, 2020 Watauga County in conjunction with the Towns of Beech Mountain, Blowing Rock, Boone and Seven Devils, will be ending short-term rentals, effective Thursday, March 26th at 12:00pm. This is a preventive measure to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus and lessen its impact on our community. The County is taking precautions to ensure the health and safety of its residents during this rapidly changing situation. Effective Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 12:00 PM, all short-term rentals for property within Watauga County shall be prohibited for the duration of the County’s State of Emergency unless otherwise deemed allowable, at which time an amendment will be issued.  Short-term rentals shall include, but not be limited to: air bed and breakfasts, campgrounds, timeshare units, condos, motels, resorts, inns, guest houses, RV Parks, vacation cabins, home rentals, VRBO, hotels, or other rental programs or places where leases for less than thirty (30) days in duration. / Read more…