COURTESY NOVANT HEALTH

Dr. Yvette Beverly-Rudisel, internal medicine physician at Novant Health First Charlotte Physicians Matthews.

With COVID cases rising again, there are some places you might want to avoid.

“Unfortunately, a lot of patients who have not been vaccinated are getting sick,” said Dr. Yvette Beverly-Rudisel, internal medicine physician at Novant Health First Charlotte Physicians Matthews. “Where we were a year ago, we have to go back to where we were. I think we have to be cautious. Everywhere you go, I think you have to make sure you’re comfortable with the precautions and safety.”

There were 7,643 cases reported in Mecklenburg County from Aug. 12 to Aug. 25, reported the health department last month. This was a large increase from July with 6,068 cases.
At the end of August, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported that unvaccinated people are 15% more likely to die from COVID this year than in 2020.

“The state’s report shows that unvaccinated people are 440% more likely to catch COVID-19 than vaccinated people,” said Dr. David Priest, a Novant Health infectious disease expert.

With face masks mandatory across the county, officials are hoping the mandate will slow the spread of the virus. However, people are still gathering at restaurants, movie theaters, football games, hair salons and barbershops, which could cause cases to continue to rise.

“Indoor events, and masked events, lots of people in tight spaces all the same principles we’ve talked about from the beginning are part of the equation,” Priest said. “So, we would encourage places to be careful about having those kinds of events. It’s all about your willingness to accept risk, and then alleviate your risk by spreading out, being outside, being socially distance, masking. You need to know your own risk.”

Priest added that those who are immune compromised should be very careful and go ahead and receive their booster shot.

When going to a football game or large outside event, it’s highly recommended to wear a face mask and keep your distance from others.

“I think the recommendation now is if you’re outside that you can go to the sporting event,” Rudisel said. If it’s a [Carolina] Panthers game or a college football [game] I would recommend people to still wear their mask. They’re outside, but there are still a lot of people there.”

Rudisel also suggested people who attend large sporting events to have their COVID vaccine.

In tight spaces such as at restaurants, movie theaters, hair salons, and barbershops, face masks should also be worn. If a restaurant has outdoor seating, opt to eat outside rather than indoors where more people will be sitting.

Rudisel recommends both hair stylists and barbers to wear masks too if they don’t already do because they are in contact with many clients. Rudisel said when she goes to a crowded space, she will typically leave and come back later when it is less people.

“When I go and if I see that there are a lot of people are there, I’ll go “ooh, I’ll come back later,” she said.

Even though there is a county-wide mask mandate in effect, businesses should think about operating at a limited capacity again.

“I think that is something that we may have to consider,” Rudisel said. “I think nobody [in business] wants to close here and I think it is certainly, as we all know affected deeply the economy. I think it is certainly a sticky situation because [businesses] were greatly affected when they closed down.”

Doctors continue to point out the pandemic is one of the unvaccinated.

“This remains a COVID surge of the unvaccinated spilling over onto the vulnerable vaccinated, so we continue to encourage people to go ahead and get vaccinated and that they have plenty of vaccines available in multiple locations across our communities,” Priest said.

Aaliyah Bowden, who covers health for The Post, is a Report for America corps member.

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