A COVID-19 cluster at Waynesville Pharmacy has been identified after five current or former employees there tested positive for the disease.

The Jackson County Department of Public Health has identified a COVID-19 cluster in a local church. Eight individuals who attended a three-day revival on July 12-14 at the Cashiers Church of God have tested positive for COVID-19. All positive individuals are following isolation orders.

Haywood County Health and Human Services is reporting the first two COVID-19 associated deaths in Haywood County. Both individuals died on July 23, at two separate facilities in Haywood County. 

By Dale Carpenter • Guest Columnist | North Carolina public schools will reopen while the COVID-19 Pandemic is still with us and it is impossible to predict what will happen as we try to cope with the complexity of it all. Parents, educators and students are learning to adjust day by day to changing conditions. 

Jackson County has seen a steady growth in active COVID-19 cases in the last week as an outbreak was reported at a local skilled nursing facility on July 17 and a cluster was announced at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino on July 20. 

Five employees at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee have tested positive for COVID-19, and the investigation is ongoing, according to the Jackson County Department of Public Health.

As more tests for COVID-19 pour into laboratories across the state, the time taken to get results continues to increase. 

This week the debate has raged over whether — and how — to reopen schools next month. President Donald Trump has demanded that schools reopen, and yet some of the largest districts in the country, including Los Angeles and San Diego, have announced they will remain fully remote this fall, following a surge of cases and a reversal of reopening efforts in California. 

The Jackson County Department of Public Health has confirmed that two recent deaths in Jackson County residents are related to COVID-19.

Nantahala Health Foundation has announced a call for grant proposals directed at regional nonprofits and governmental agencies with immediate needs, especially those magnified by the COVID-19 global pandemic.