 With nearly 20,000 cases locally and the resurgence of Covid in recent weeks, Pike County Health Department is continuing to advise residents on how to keep themselves healthy during this time. As a result, Mountain Top spoke with Public Health Director Tammy Riley about case numbers and about recent changes that can help keep your family healthy. In Pike County, currently, we're just slightly under 20,000 cases confirmed to date at 19,912. I fully expect we'll hit that 20,000 case number before Monday. We have 316 confirmed deceased and currently 185 active cases. Last week, in the previous few weeks, we were seeing in the upper teens, from mid to upper teens per day, a number of cases, and we're seeing a slight uptick in the 20s. So, between 20 and 25 cases a day. Last week's daily incident rate put us at 24.7, just slightly below that 25 benchmark number. Above 25, it puts you from that orange or mid-level to a higher level just on the daily incident rate. So, we're seeing a slight uptick. A number of deceased cases did go up slightly, but hospitalizations are remaining still fairly low. We have 18 hospitalizations due to Covid this week in Pike County. We are Pikeville Medical Center, and we are an amazing place to work. Healthcare heroes of all types work here. All who deserve great rewards. So, while our heroes are working hard to take care of our patients and visitors, we are taking care of them with top-tier benefits, higher pay rates, and great sign-on bonuses. So, join our team today. So, what are you waiting for? Apply today! Incredible opportunities await at PMCjobs.org. While COVID-19 cases remain steady, Pike County has slipped slightly back into the yellow or medium range for local cases. In regards to vaccination, the CDC and FDA has authorized emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine in ages six months and older. Riley adds more. So, recently the CDC FDA came out with recommendations for six-month-year-olds to five years of age. It could now be vaccinated, both with Moderna and Pfizer. So, Moderna is a two-dose vaccine for ages six months to five-year, and Pfizer is a three-dose for six months to four-years. So, we can now protect those youngest, and we don't know how our little ones are going to react or how they will fare with COVID-19. Overall, they've done fairly well, but it does take some of the stress off of parents. Parents are already making important decisions on a daily basis about how to protect their children. Regarding, you know, immunizations, influenza, car safety, and all kinds of other areas where they make important decisions. So, this is another important decision for parents to discuss with their pediatricians. But it would certainly create some de-stressor for parents who have been concerned about childcare, school events, and other types of activities that they would do with their little ones. While the CDC and FDA has authorized emergency use of the vaccine for ages six months and older, Pike County Health Department is waiting to receive the latest guidance, which they expect to have in the next two weeks. For information regarding boosters or vaccines, you can call Pike County Health Department at 606-437-5500. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joel Korjol.