Dare County accepting registrations for anyone who wants to be vaccinated, per Tuesday update

Dare County released the following update for Tuesday, March 16, which provides details on recent Coronavirus cases, current and future vaccine allotments, and more COVID-19 information.

Dare County COVID-19 Case Update

This past weekend, marked the one year anniversary since we started providing COVID-19 reports and updates in Dare County. While this past year has had its share of challenges, frustrations, disappointments, and loss, we are now in a position of hope and optimism that we will get on the other side of this pandemic sooner, rather than later, as more and more people are getting vaccinated and we are seeing lower numbers of new cases.

The overall number of new COVID-19 cases in Dare County remains dramatically lower than the early part of this year, however, there was a slight increase this past week, with 38 new cases. Additionally, the percent of positive tests to total tests for this past week also increased from 7.5% to 8.13%. Please help us keep the spread of the virus under control by following the 3 Ws: wear a face covering when in public, wait 6 ft apart and wash your hands frequently or use hand sanitizer.

Since our last report on 3/8, there have been 42 new COVID-19 cases. Of these 42 new cases:

• 33 (79%) are symptomatic
• 34 (80%) acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual or individuals who were positive for COVID-19.

The total COVID-19 positive case count in Dare County is 2,853 of which there are 21 active cases among residents of Dare County.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Over the past 10 weeks, we have provided 10,128 initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and have fully vaccinated 8,340 individuals.  Over the next 2 weeks we will administer an additional 1,970 first doses and 600 second doses.

Based on our recent increases in vaccine allocation from the state we are now able to move to Group 5 and accept registrations for anyone, 16 and over, who wishes to be vaccinated. Anyone who wishes to be vaccinated may now go to our website at www.darenc.com/covidvaccine to complete the vaccination request form. Staff will then call you to schedule an appointment, as appointments are available. We ask for your continued patience as we anticipate it could take 1 – 2 weeks to get an appointment from the time you register on-line.

We are pleased to share that we will be receiving a special allotment of Pfizer vaccine which will enable us to vaccinate individuals aged 16 and over. The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine currently authorized for ages 16 and over. Both the Moderna and J&J vaccines are for ages 18 and over. Anyone who is under the age of 18 will need a parent or guardian to accompany you to the vaccine clinic.

If you have registered on our website for a vaccine and no longer need your appointment, please email us at covid19@darenc.com so we can remove you from our waitlist. Additionally, please only register one time through the website. If you are unsure if your registration was successfully submitted you may call us at 252-475-5008 or send us an email at covid19@darenc.com to check. This will help us be as efficient as possible when scheduling appointments.

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 467 COVID-19 diagnostic tests reported in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March of last year to 34,478.  There were 38 positive cases between March 8 and March 14. The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since we started testing in March 2020 remained the same as last week at 8.26%. The percent of positive tests to total tests for the past week increased slightly to 8.13%. Syndromic surveillance of individuals presenting with COVID like symptoms to the emergency department and urgent care centers, showed low levels of activity. These graphs can be found on the dare county website at www.darenc.com/covid19.

Communications and Information Sharing

Dare County DHHS has an established schedule of communication to share information regarding COVID-19. Every Tuesday, a written update and a video update which includes an overview of the previous week’s COVID-19 key metrics is issued. Additional updates will be released as needed. 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.