COVID-19 is surging in Western North Carolina counties, and eight nursing homes in Haywood, Jackson and Macon counties are currently battling ongoing outbreaks. 

Four people at Hermitage Assisted Living and Memory Care in Sylva have tested positive for COVID-19, constituting a new outbreak.

Haywood County is applying for federal funds that would allow for a major renovation project at the Clyde armory building, which was gifted to the county a couple of years ago. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading in North Carolina in March of 2020, public schools were forced to close their doors. First for two weeks, then for the rest of the school year. During that time teachers and administration worked hard to develop best practices on the spot for virtual learning. 

If you’re feeling COVID fatigue, it’s no wonder. 

It seems this all started “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” We could be so lucky. In fact, it was one year ago, Nov. 17, 2019, that the first case of the novel coronavirus emerged was reported from a seafood market in Wuhan, China. At least that’s according to Chinese government data that was reported in the South China Morning Post.

With the real estate market in Western North Carolina booming right now, it’s clear the region is reaping the economic benefits of the urban exodus happening during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Patrick Cochran and Blair Smoker have lived in the Atlanta area their whole lives, but they’ve long believed that Sylva would someday be their home. 

Jane Pickett is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. She has lived the last 15 years of her life in Los Angeles, California, but when things began to shut down as the Coronavirus Pandemic spread across the United States, she headed east. 

When President Richard Nixon ‘s signature on the Clean Air Act of 1970 prompted North Carolina to create its Division of Air Quality, air quality was bad in Western North Carolina. 

“Back in the ‘80s or the ‘90s, once summer hit your mountains would disappear,” recalled Jim Renfro, longtime air quality specialist for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, during an interview earlier this year. “You’re outside in the valley looking up, and you couldn’t see the mountains through the haze.”

As the colder weather settles in, many Western North Carolina counties are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases.