NEWS

 

With the good news that the initial round of vaccines is being given to high-risk healthcare providers, it could be easy to focus on the end of the COVID pandemic as we near the end of 2020.

However, neither the U.S. nor Davidson is out of the woods–not yet. In fact, recent announcements from our downtown businesses emphasize just how much COVID continues to affect our community specifically.

On Sunday, Dec. 13, Summit Coffee shared that one of their baristas had been exposed to someone with a positive COVID test. As a result, they have closed Basecamp, Summit’s original S. Main Street location, until enough employees have tested negative and the is café sufficiently cleaned.

The barista’s last shift was Friday. They tested negative for COVID Sunday but are showing mild symptoms and are in close contact with someone who tested positive. As such, Summit treated it as a positive case and remained closed through Dec. 15. Late Tuesday they announced that Summit would re-open Wednesday morning.

Now, Main Street Books has announced that they will be closed to public browsing beginning Tuesday, December 15, because a bookseller has been exposed to COVID. They will pivot immediately to their curbside pick-up model.

It goes like this: If a patron needs to pick up an order, Main Street Books will call the patron to arrange payment. Orders will be available for pickup from their sidewalk cart from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. this week. Most importantly, customers are not allowed to enter the store to pay.

Shoppers can call the bookstore between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. to find out more about orders. Phones are open from 1–6 p.m. this week at 704-892-6841.

If the requested item is available at the downtown Main Street Books, just use their online request form, available 24/7. You can also shop via their partnership with Bookshop.org page. Place your order from Bookshop.org by December 16 for Christmas delivery (with priority/UPS shipping).

The bottom line is that numbers in our community reflect the recent spike in cases seen statewide and nationwide. Since the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services began to track COVID in early 2020 and November 26, 498 people in the 28036-zip code had tested positive. Seven members of community have died. In the past three weeks, the number of positive COVID cases has jumped to 676, and another person has died.

Local, state, and national experts are in agreement: Don’t let your guard down. If you haven’t been doing all that you should be doing, please start. You need to protect yourself, your family, and your neighbor, not to mention healthcare workers and first responders.