Dare County provides details on its active COVID-19 cases, and recent hospitalization, in Tuesday’s update

September 29, 2020 | Local News

Dare County released the following COVID-19 update for Tuesday, September 29, which details the county’s most recent active cases, testing efforts, and additional community information.

The total COVID-19 positive case count in Dare County is 547, of which there are 15 active cases among residents of Dare County. Of the 547 cases, 295 are residents and 252 are non-residents. Currently, one resident remains hospitalized due to COVID-19 complications.

Since the last Dare County DHHS Update issued Friday, September 25, 2020, there have been 18 new positive cases. Of these 18 cases, 9 are residents and 9 are non-residents. The Dare County website has already been updated to reflect all of these cases.

Of the 9 resident cases since Friday, September 25th:

4 of the cases are close contacts, 3 symptomatic and 1 asymptomatic, who acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 9/25.
2 of the cases are not connected. Both are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County
2 of the cases are not connected. One is symptomatic and one is asymptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus.
1 case was reported to us yesterday from the state reporting system. This was a late report from when the individual tested positive outside Dare County. The individual has since fully recovered.

Of the 9 non-resident cases since Friday, September 25th:

3 of the cases are family members. All are asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual who tested positive outside of Dare County.
2 of the cases are not connected. 1 is symptomatic and 1 is asymptomatic. Both individuals acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.
4 of the cases are not connected. 3 are symptomatic and 1 is asymptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus.

Contact tracing has been completed on 15 of the cases and direct contacts provided by these individuals have been identified, notified, and directed to quarantine for 14 days from the last date of exposure with the positive case. The 14 day quarantine requirement is very important to slowing the spread of the virus as the incubation period for this virus is 2 – 14 days. We are working with the other 3 individuals to identify their direct contacts.

Over the past two months we have seen lower numbers of new COVID-19 cases as compared to the number of cases in July and early August. While this is encouraging, it does not mean the COVID-19 virus is not in our community. Unfortunately, just in the past 2 days we have seen an increase in 14 cases, with 4 of those being 18 years and younger. While more and more people are beginning to re-engage in activities with others, we can expect to see cases increase. It is critical for everyone to be responsible and follow the 3Ws to help reduce the spread COVID-19. The 3Ws are really the most effective tools to help protect yourself, your family and our community. Please,

Wear a cloth face covering if you will be with other people.
Wait 6 feet apart. Avoid close contact.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer.

State Updates

North Carolina DHHS has recently shared some important information regarding COVID-19. This information includes:

COVID-19 exposure tracking app. This is a new app which individuals may download to their smartphone. This app can alert you if you have been in close contact to a laboratory confirmed case of COVID-19. More information on this app is available at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/slowcovidnc
Extra Credit Grant program. On September 4, Governor Roy Cooper signed into law the Coronavirus Relief Act 3.0. This program provides funds to help families with qualifying children in North Carolina by providing economic support to assist with virtual schooling and child-care costs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant amount is $335.00 total for each eligible individual, even if the individual has two or more qualifying children. If you filed your 2019 taxes you do not need to do anything to receive the funds, however if you have not filed 2019 taxes you need to go to the NC DOR website to submit an application to receive the funds. For more information visit NCDOR‘s Extra Credit webpage
Halloween guidance. The state’s guidance, modeled after the CDC’s recommendations, outlines lower and moderate risk activities for Halloween this year. This guidance can be found at darenc.com/covid19 by clicking on the Halloween banner.

Key Metrics

Each week we review the 4 key metrics associated with disease investigation and surveillance. The metrics are:

Number of Tests
Confirmed Cases
Positive Tests as a Percent of Total Tests
COVID Like Illness Surveillance

This past week there were 631 COVID-19 diagnostic tests performed in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March to 13,010. There were 20 positive cases between September 21 and September 27. The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since we started testing in early March remained stable this week at 4.10%. The percent positive to total tests for the past week alone decreased to 3.17%. Syndromic surveillance of the emergency department showed an increase early last week in the numbers of individuals presenting with COVID-19 related symptoms. The local urgent care centers also saw a slight increase in the number of patients presenting with COVID-19 related symptoms over this past week. These graphs can be found on the dare county website at www.darenc.com/covid19

Testing

We strongly encourage anyone who is experiencing symptoms to be tested as well as anyone who may have come into contact with someone who has COVID-19. If you have questions about testing or locations please visit www.darenc.com/covidtesting or call the COVID-19 call center, open Monday – Friday from 8:30 am – 5 pm at 252-475-5008.

Communications and Information Sharing

Dare County DHHS has an established schedule of communication to share information regarding COVID-19. On Tuesdays, we release a written update and a video update which includes an overview of the previous week’s COVID-19 key metrics is issued. On Fridays a written update is issued. All released videos and written updates can be found on our website, DHHS facebook page, Dare County Twitter page, and Dare Emergency Management Twitter page. If you would like to receive these updates directly to your email, please sign up to receive our enotifications.

New positive cases are updated on the dashboard on our website and shared on the DHHS facebook page when we receive them. To find the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 cases in Dare County visit www.darenc.com/covid19. State COVID-19 data is available at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard.

Contact Us

We encourage you to stay informed by visiting www.darenc.com/covid19 or by visiting the CDC or NC DHHS websites. If you have specific needs or questions you may also call the Dare County COVID-19 call center open Monday-Friday from 8:30 to 5:00 at 252-475-5008.