COVID Update

Online figures show just over 100 new cases of COVID-19 in Burke County in the last two days.

The dashboard manned by Burke County Public Health indicates 105 new cases since Tuesday for a total of 15-thousand-496.

800 cases are reported to be active, and 41 Burke residents are still hospitalized with the virus.

In McDowell County, health officials report 25 new cases for a total of 8-thousand-422.

321 in McDowell remain quarantined.

Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioTech announced Thursday that the companies have officially submitted their request to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

The companies stated they’ve received positive results from the trial on September 20^th which included more than 22-hundred young participants.

The FDA is expected to take several weeks going through the data before possibly issuing an emergency use authorization.

Rain Impact

The Catawba Valley counties saw massive amounts of rainfall Thursday morning and into the afternoon hours, while life-threatening flash flooding caused the issuance of a State of Emergency in McDowell County.

In McDowell, emergency officials reported more than 80 swift water rescues as homes were flooded and roads became impassable.

The McDowell Board of Commissioners issued a state of emergency around Noon as heavy rains continued to produce landslides, power outages, and road closures.

Burke County’s Director of Emergency Management Mike Willis reports Burke’s biggest impact was seen in the City of Morganton with storm drains unable to handle the volume of rainfall in a short period of time.

Willis says swift water rescue personnel were placed on standby; however, fortunately no rescue situations were reported.

The National Weather Service reports some 6 to 7 inches of rainfall occurred in areas of the foothills.

Fatal Wreck

A crash along Interstate-40 in Asheville Tuesday evening has claimed the life of a former Burke County resident.

Authorities with Asheville Police confirm 21-year-old Sara Rae Harris Key of Oak Grove Kentucky was killed when her vehicle crashed near mile marker 53 in east Asheville.

Officers report Key’s vehicle was traveling west when the mishap occurred, but traveled to the eastbound side of the interstate.

Key’s facebook page states she was originally from Morganton.

Caldwell Rabies

Caldwell County marks its second confirmed case of rabies this year.

The state’s lab notified Caldwell Animal Control Thursday, that a skunk submitted for testing was indeed infected with the rabies virus.

The skunk was found in the Grace Chapel community when it came in contact with a kitten.

To protect your pets, make sure their rabies vaccinations are current. Rabies is a viral disease of the central nervous system that is almost always fatal once symptoms begin.

Caldwell Animal Control is holding a rabies vaccination clinic on Saturday October 23^rd from 1 until 4 pm at the Health and Human Services Building in Lenoir.

One and three-year vaccinations will be offered at a cost of 7-dollars.

Iredell Charges

A couple has been charged with felony concealment of death after a newborn baby was found buried in a shallow grave behind an Iredell County home.

Reports filed with High Point Police on September 4^th say 21-year-old Olivia Billington, while in the company of 19-year-old Alex Best, gave birth to an infant boy while in High Point.

Authorities say no medical treatment was sought by the pair, and on September 6^th Best allegedly took the deceased baby to his home in Iredell County where he buried it on his property.

An autopsy was reportedly conducted on the infant; findings were inconclusive.

High Point’s Special Victims Unit was initially made aware of the incident on September 7^th.