By Russell Clark | March 29, 2021 at 11:29 PM EDT – Updated March 29 at 11:29 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) -Top health officials are warning of a new surge in COVID-19 and If you’re one of the thousands across the state still waiting to get your COVID-19 vaccine, Mike Powlas says you can gladly have his.
He has no fear of getting coronavirus and has no intentions of getting the vaccine.
“I don’t think of it any worse than anything else that I come across. With the immune system that I have I feel very confident that it will fight off pretty much anything that comes along,” said Powlas
Dr. Phil Brown, Chief Physician at New Hanover Regional Medical Center said it’s this kind of thinking that worries health experts.
“Vaccination basically guarantees that COVID-19 will not kill you. We know from all the vaccine trials there were no fatalities. That’s the main reason to get vaccinated, said Dr. Brown.
As of last Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper loosened restrictions, allowing retail stores to open to full capacity, restaurants at 75 percent capacity, and bars at 50 % capacity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci believes lifting restrictions like that could change the downward trend.
“We got stuck at around 50,000 new cases per day, and it went up to 60,000 the other day. And that’s really a risk. We’ve seen that in our own country. And that’s exactly what has happened in Europe, in several of the countries in the European union, where they plateaued and then started to come back,” said Dr. Fauci.
South Eastern North Carolina has not seen an increase in cases, but Dr. Brown said it’s possible for us to see a spike with the reopening’s and the Easter holiday.
Dr. Brown says it’s imperative for people to continue wearing masks and practicing social distancing if we want to return to some sense of normalcy.
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