By Holly Hodges
In local news, Boone’s FastMed Urgent Care is experiencing a higher demand due to the ongoing flu season and lasting effects from COVID-19. According to The Appalachian, the increase has resulted in walk-in appointment limitations and, in some cases, non-emergency walk-ins being turned away. FastMed addressed this issue in a statement, writing,“ There are occasional times we do have to temporarily pause walk-ins due to increased patient volumes and staff availability, but we always take care of emergency patients during these times.” FastMed is actively working to resolve this issue. It is advised for patients to schedule appointments in advance when possible.
In North Carolina news, hoax calls spread across the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district yesterday regarding gunshot victims on campus. According to WBTV, four schools within the district received the calls. The incident comes after there were several false reports made of active shooters in schools across Georgia on Wednesday. School districts from Wilkesboro, Winston-Salem and Raleigh-Durham have reported similar hoaxes as well.
In U.S. news, the nation’s first trial on banning gender-affirming care for children came to a close yesterday. According to the Associated Press, Arkansas wrapped their case defending the prohibition with testimony from an endocrinologist opposed to the treatments on minors. The current law prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming care such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers or even surgery to minors. Across the country, several states have restricted similar bans. Last month, Florida medical officials approved a rule banning gender-affirming care for minors. U.S District Judge Jay Moody has not provided any indication of when he would rule.
Today’s weather is brought to you by Ray’s Weather Center at Booneweather.com. It is going to partly cloudy this morning with some possible rain showers rolling in later this afternoon. Today’s high is 51 degrees and the low is 39.