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OBSERVATIONS
April 24, 2020 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
COVID-19 Vulnerability Index puts
Johnston in highest-risk category
The coronavirus numbers for Johnston County appear to be stabilizing, at least for now, giving us encouragement that we may be reaching a plateau leading to a downturn in infections. That optimism fuels the fires of folks calling for an immediate end to Governor Roy Cooper's Stay At Home Order that has shut down numerous businesses and gatherings like church services.
But then we're reminded by the medical community that it's too soon to let our guard down, as the COVID-19 virus isn't licked yet. On Thursday Governor Cooper, in response, extended his Stay At Home Order through May 8 (it was due to expire April 29).
Reinforcing the need for caution was a piece in Thursday's News & Observer referring to a COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index that shows on a county-by-county basis which areas of the nation have populations most susceptible to the pandemic's worst-case scenarios.
When I reached the website of the Surgo Foundation that produces the Vulnerability Index, I immediately went to an interactive map showing our region of North Carolina. And lo and behold, Johnston and every other county up and down the I-95 corridor as well as many others to the east are placed in the highest category of vulnerability.
Wake County was the only nearby county with a "low" rating of vulnerability.
The Community Vulnerability Index is based on indicators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC, as we know it), "which measures the expected impact of disasters of any type," the Surgo Foundation explains.
Those indicators include socio-economic status, household composition and disability, minority status and language, housing type and transportation, epidemiologic factors, and health-care system factors.
That data is distilled to come up with a score for each community, and from there we get vulnerability categories ranging from "low" to "very high," which is where Johnston County lands.
That's a lot to grasp, yet it's another reminder about the care our particular community needs to take in confronting COVID-19. In other words, to use an old saying: Better Safe Than Sorry --- especially as we seek a return to business as usual. What looks good in the short term may turn out to be far worse as we move on down this uncertain road.
Here's the link to the Surgo Foundation's Community Vulnerability Index>
Flowers
sentfrom a reader
Claudia O'Hale of Smithfield sent us this picture from her residence to add to our Smithfield's Blooming Collection.
We might as well make it a standing feature for this page. Every week there's something else blooming around here as we move through Spring.
If you're a local resident and have pretty flowers to share --- digitally, that is --- please send them in!
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