LAURINBURG — Scotland County Health Director Elisha Caldwell didn’t paint a pretty picture about the trend of COVID-19 locally.

Caldwell visited with a room full of masked members of the Rotary Club on Tuesday, and said the numbers are looking pretty bleak.

“This has been the most difficult thing to deal with during my career,” he said. “We can talk about influenza, Ebola … but COVID-19 has brought the world to its knees.”

He added that, during the flu pandemic in 1918, the health care system was in its rudimentary stages — but meds and public health now have made tremendous advances. But there remains a problem.

“When you take a look at the 10 best countries in the world, they are also the ones having the most trouble with COVID,” he said. “Why? Because the efficiency of health care is not good.”

He wen t on to localize things further.

“Eighty-nine of North Carolina’s 100 counties are in high-risk status for COVID,” Caldwell said. “And the Delta variant is highly transmittable.

“So I am pushing the public to get vaccinated without taking away their freedoms,” he added. “People should know their freedom is better when they are not laying in a hospital bed.”

He said the only sure way to stop the pandemic is for everyone to get the vaccine — and it’s too late once you test positive for COVID.

“My goal is to protect the vulnerable — and right now, everyone is vulnerable,” Caldwell said. “Everyone.

“I don;t want to make this some scary thing, but it is,” he added. “Please ask your loved ones to get vaccinated.”

W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or cvincent@laurinburgexchange.com.