By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com
Three of the seven Lee County Commissioners were absent Monday as the board met, but the four in attendance listened silently as County Manager Dr. John Crumpton shared grim numbers about the spread of COVID-19 through the county and its impact on services.
Crumpton said 27 county employees were out of work on Monday, either because they had come down with the virus or were quarantined after being exposed. He said the city of Sanford had 31 employees out of work on the same day due to COVID.
Earlier Monday, the firm contracted by the city to provide trash and recycling collection, GFL Environmental, notified the city that more than 20 of its workers were unable to report to work due to COVID and that delays in solid waste collection and disposal should be expected for the next several days.
The county’s 10,000th case of the virus was reported on December 22 and the number of cases has soared since then. More than 1,500 cases have been reported in 19 days between then and January 10, bringing the total now to 11,511 since the pandemic began in March 2020. Crumpton said more than 600 cases were reported just over the weekend.
More than one-third of all COVID tests done during the past seven days – 34.29 percent – returned positive. That compares to a percentage of 3.13 that were positive just two months ago.
The Lee County Board of Education meets Tuesday night to again reconsider its current masking policy for students, teachers, staff, and visitors. On Monday, 31 students and 12 staff members were out after testing positive for the virus, while another 70 students and three staff members were quarantined after exposure. Given the numbers, a change in the policy seems unlikely.
Budget season set to begin
State law requires counties maintain a balanced budget that is adopted before June 30 of each year. Commissioners approved the first step in that process for the 2022-23 fiscal year Monday by adopting a schedule of deadlines and targeted meeting dates that will allow the county to comply with the mandates in the General Statutes.
The budget kick-off session with the county manager and department heads will take place on January 25, a few days before commissioners have their planning retreat on January 27 and 28 to set overall goals for the coming year. Final budget requests from county departments are due on March 7 and from non-county organizations by March 25.
Both Democrats and Republicans on the board have indicated they’d like to see a further reduction in the property tax rates, and an indication of how likely that might be could come as early as April 15 when the estimated tax valuation is due from the county’s tax administrator.
The Board of Education’s budget request will be due by May 13 and the commissioners will begin public working sessions on all requests on May 16. If the plan holds, a public hearing on the budget will be held June 6 at the McSwain Center and a final vote taken June 20 at the Dennis Wicker Civic Center.
Vehicles for sheriff’s office
The commissioners authorized Crumpton and newly appointed interim Sheriff Brian Estes to pursue the purchase of four Dodge Durango-type vehicles. The original plan developed by former Sheriff Tracy Carter called for four Dodge Chargers, but deputies in Lee County and across the state have reported that vehicles with low clearance often encounter performance issues in rural areas.
Like other sectors of the economy, the automotive industry is dealing with shortages of parts, as well as labor because of the Omicron variant of COVID. To ensure the vehicles can be obtained as quickly as possible, the commissioners authorized Crumpton and Estes to look at other options as well, including Ford Explorers and Chevrolet Tahoes. All three vehicle types are available for purchase on state contract.
Magneti Marelli property now in county hands
Dr. Crumpton also told the Commissioners that Magneti Marelli ended all its operations at the company’s former facility at 2101 Nash Street as of December 26. The county has taken possession of all five buildings on the property, with an eye toward the eventual transference of the property to Central Carolina Community College.
The next step in that process is the cleanup of industrial and hazardous waste and on December 22, a hazardous materials permit was transferred into Lee County’s name. Crumpton said county staff members are working with a consulting firm, Terraquest Environmental Consultants of Mebane, to develop a final cleanup plan that will need to be approved by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Lee County acquired the 22 acres of property last summer. CCCC has announced plans to use the land and buildings to “relocate and expand manufacturing type training programs and workforce development. Relocation of programs on the main campus will allow room to renovate existing facilities for Lee Early College and for expansion of the library.”
Design work on what the new interiors of the buildings will look like can begin as soon as the cleanup phase is completed. A walk-through tour of the facilities for commissioners and trustees of the college is being planned for February.
Equity Task Force report rescheduled
A report to the commissioners by the Sanford Equity Task Force was removed from the agenda because some of its members were out of town. The report was rescheduled to the commission’s next meeting on January 24.
It’s a cold now. Get over it
exactly….
It’s not a cold. My god, you people are dumb.
The real question isn’t the number of cases. What is the number of hospitalizations for COVID? What is the number of Deaths FROM COVID? Nobody is reporting that information. Why? I have to assume that if we knew those numbers the fear porn would not be as effective. I also bet that nothing is going to be discussed about installation of mechanical systems to reduce the spread of the virus in schools and public places. So wear your mask and keep getting shots is all they will continue to say.
Lee County: 121 deaths, 2,400+ diagnosed in last 2 weeks. Unfortunately the DHHS site does not report any comparative numbers that would show the rise by county.
839,000 of your fellow americans are dead now. Should hit a million by April. On a positive note, the majority of the deaths now are those who think it’s just a cold or the flu.
The question is, how many of those numbers were from COVID or with COVID? Why do they refuse to report the facts on the vaccines? The truth on the health risks, adverse reactions, and deaths from the vaccines is starting to surface. Vaccines are not protecting people from catching or spreading the virus. This is no longer a pandemic of the unvaccinated and resorts are now showing the vaccinated are more likely to catch omicron than the unvaccinated.
I’d like to know how many of the dead were on a ventilator before they died. That’s probably a good sign it was covid. As far as other conditions go, you could have cancer and have a car wreck and die. What caused your death, the cancer or the wreck?
The Sheriffs Dept. do not need SUV’s to commute from Amerigate Crossing in Apex. City paved road where one deputy commutes. I thought county vehicles are supposed to stay in county; not two counties away.
So the city of Sanford halts due to most likely non-symptomatic cases. The NFL has stopped testing everyone…only if symptomatic. Can we get on with the game of life and stop all the nonsense….the science shows that herd immunity is preferred, it is finally happening due to Omicron’s rapid spread; thank God it is a milder version….the lack of deaths skyrocketing simultaneously with the now 31% test positive rate is proof. Omicron is better than any vaccine out there….let it happen already so we can get back to life.
Very glad that Omicron is less deadly that Delta. It is still very deadly though. I truly wish it did not cause death, but it is fitting that if people must die, the majority of the deaths come from those who deny the seriousness and have resisted protecting themselves and others.
Mike, actually the people that are dying are predominantly the elderly, people with serious health conditions like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, etc. the healthy are surviving, vaccinated or unvaccinated. Pretty pathetic that you actually consider it “fitting” that people that don’t subscribe to your view should die. People bash others that have their reasons for not getting the vaccines while completely ignoring the fact that government agencies have done everything they can to prevent doctors from prescribing therapeutics that have shown to prevent illness and prevent death. how many 100’s of thousands of people have died because they were denied access to medicines that work, all because Fauci has said the only answer is vaccines or nothing. This is the very same approach he took in the 80’s with HIV/AIDS and it cost lives then like it has cost lives now. I wish the media would truly ask the hard questions instead of towing the line of the talking points. Nobody ever asks why only those that have survived COVID and are not vaccinated can donate blood for use in the monoclonal antibodies. What is in the vaccine that prevents it? If everyone was vaccinated there would be no-one to donate blood. Nobody is asking how many people have died from the vaccines. How many have been permanently injured? The whole world wanted the pharmaceutical companies hung for their pushing of opioids, but now all of sudden trust whatever those same companies say. Don’t you wonder why they demanded to have no liability for any adverse reactions? Why would you inject something in your body and have no protections if you have some sort of reaction that could mess you up for the rest of your life. who are you going to hold responsible if we find out in 2 or 3 years that these vaccines have damaged people for life? People have legitimate concerns and shame on you for acting like they deserve to die.
Please cite your sources. Hey, I don’t want anyone to die. I’m just saying what most people are afraid to say. I mean seriously, it would truly be a travesty if those who have been fighting all efforts to stop this thing since it began, were the ones who were the most safe. As it is, all other things being equal, they are the most likely to bite the dust. I stand by my feelings that if someone must die, it is fitting that they are the sacrificial lambs. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
To correct myself, you can donate blood, not convalescent plasma. However it is the plasma that is used to treat COVID patients. https://www.wkrbc.org/donating-blood-after-receiving-the-covid-19-vaccine/
Here is the list of the deaths of people with comorbidities who died with COVID
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm
As you can see, the Federal Govt. just approved the use of therapeutics last month, two years into the pandemic. Notice they did it after their buddies in the pharmaceutical industry came out with new ones while ignoring the effectiveness of medicines that have been around for decades. Why would you ever trust any of these people? https://www.phe.gov/emergency/events/COVID19/investigation-MCM/Documents/USG-COVID19-Tx-Playbook.pdf
Here is the link to a group of doctors from around the world that are studying the effects of the COVID Vaccines and reporting their findings. You will probably ignore what they are saying if you even read or listen to them. That is your choice. You now have resources to look at what is being found by doctors who are being silenced. https://doctors4covidethics.org/
Looks like you are finally right about something Mr. Roberts. He probably will be ignoring that trash website. Word of advice, if you’re going to post a BS website, you should probably make sure it doesn’t look like a Middle School C average student’s terrible create-a-blog assignment for computer science. Nice try though.
https://medium.com/annie-lab/investigation-a-group-of-doctors-spreading-misleading-claims-about-covid-19-vaccines-8d4ce1395a9b
You will probably ignore what they are saying if you even read them. That is your choice. You now have resources… You should also look up confirmation bias while you are at it!
That D. Roberts dude is a whacko 👆🏻.
I’ll be honest. All that really concerns me is the current health tragedy. What is killing people today. Not what may or may not be an issue down the road. I choose to focus on today, and not wring my hands worrying about tomorrow. I know that there have been deaths as a result of taking the vaccine. There always are. Those numbers are small when compared to deaths caused by the disease.
I don’t understand the focus on comorbidities. That was a known issue from the start. Nearly half the people in the US are obese. One out of every ten people you walk by has diabetes. Another ten percent have chronic lung disease like Asthma, COPD, or chronic bronchitis. Almost everyone has some kind of comorbidity, even if they are not aware of it. I guess what you are saying is that people with comorbidities deserve to die. I say it makes sense.
It really should tell you something if 91% of the deaths are to those who are not fully vaccinated. That is really bad considering that 70% of the population is fully vaccinated. Think about that. 91% of the deaths are happening to 30% of the total adult population. If you want to risk your life because of an unknown/maybe/could happen in a worse case scenario, that’s on you. Covid IS happening now. People ARE dying now.
Those other issues are worth questioning, but they are out of your hands. By all means, ask questions. But don’t get your panties in a wad if others think you are not using the good sense you were given. The evidence is right in front of your eyes.
I know that my “fitting” comment struck a nerve, so I will rephrase my comment from “it is fitting that they are the sacrificial lambs.” to “It makes sense that those unvaccinated are the sacrificial lambs.”
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/91-of-nc-covid-deaths-in-2021-were-among-those-not-fully-vaccinated/20035118/
Here is another website for anyone else interested.
https://digicomnet.org/doctors-disinformation
Thank you, I did not know. You have provided good info.
I stand corrected.
More about those “ethical” “doctors”!
https://www.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSL1N2TN1PP
Does anyone have thoughts on this? It is a patent application. For testing of COVID 19. The odd part of it is, it was started in 2015. This isn’t a wacko site, it is a US Government site. How were people developing tests for COVID 19 in 2015? No sarcasm, do any of you have insight on how this happens or are we being played? https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/patent/US-2020279585-A1
This is not a government site. This is a site produced by pubchem. If you look, it references NIH as the national library of medicine. NIH is the National Institute of Health. It does have links embedded that are government sites.
Everything you read on the internet is true; bonjour.