COVID making its way around, Fall 2023.

Fall 2023 — In August and September, we started seeing headlines in newspapers, online news, and television like: COVID is up again in North Carolina.

For example, Spectrum news reported on the latest rise in COVID cases, the severity and mildness of symptoms, and the waning individual and collective immunity.

Excerpt:  “This virus isn’t a seasonable virus, like the flu is, it’s with us constantly,” said David Montefiori, who studies COVID-19 vaccines at Duke University. He said the waves of cases come and go with immunity, either through vaccines or natural immunity from catching the virus.

[Boosters] “As immunity wanes in the population, we’re going to continue to see increased numbers of infections and associated increases in hospitalizations and deaths,” Montefiore said.

About 17% of eligible people in the United States got the latest bivalent booster shot, Montefiore said. That means most people have not had a booster shot in over a year, he said.

“The best thing that people can do to maintain a normal way of life is to get their booster shots,” he said. Updates to the booster shots have been working to keep people protected, he said. “If you haven’t been boosted or infected in the past year, that immunity isn’t very good anymore.”

 

At Triangle’s Best Karate, we share a space for nearly an hour, occasionally touch others in instruction or partnering for sparring, and see some of you up to 5 times a week.

 

What will TBK dojo do to prevent COVID exposure?

1. We will offer everyone hand sanitizer upon entering the dojo.
2. We will encourage participants to wash their hands with soap and water before leaving the dojo.
3. We will NOT take head temperatures at the door.  We will NOT require wearing masks by any instructor or student, but we will also NOT make fun of anyone who wishes to wear a mask.
4. We will sanitize weights, focus pads, and floors after use at the end of the last class of the day, everyday.
5. We encourage anyone with symptoms of illness, injury, or fatigue to stay home.
6. We will provide substitutes for any instructors with illness or injury, as we always do, so that we can continue with in-person classes.

Should you come to class? Should you tell someone?  Is it time for masks? or boosters?

1. If you have symptoms of any respiratory illness,  you should stay home and rest.  Keep others safer.
2. Symptoms of COVID… Three new symptoms of the latest variant of COVID are congestion/stuffy nose, nausea, and diarrhea have joined the better-known symptoms of fever, cough, chills, shortness of breath, new loss of taste and smell, and others.
3. If you test positive for COVID or are awaiting results, please stay home and inform Sensei at info@trianglesbestkarate.com when you become aware of your exposure or suspected illness.
4. If you wish to train, consider wearing a mask if you are at medium risk. See the Centers for Disease Control’s public health advice here .
5. Discuss booster or vaccination with a health professional or pharmacist; vaccines and the latest booster for immunity against the later COVID variants are available to people ages 12 and up, and only by special permission for children ages 6 months to 11 years.
6. Free at-home rapid tests are available by mail, for pick up by people ages 14 and up in Wake County.  Free PCR tests (more reliable results in 12-48 hours) are available at various Wake County locations (some are drive-thru or in parking lot)  .  The closest ones to the Dojo is on Departure Drive.  Sunnybrook Ave is closer to the WakeMed hospital on New Bern Ave.