Dare County has 87 active COVID-19 cases, 8 hospitalizations, per Friday update

December 18, 2020 | Local News

Dare County released the following update for Friday, December 18, which provides details on its active COVID-19 cases and additional related information.

The number of positive COVID-19 tests in Dare County is 1,328, of which there are 87 active cases among residents of Dare County. Of the 1,328 cases, 862 are residents and 466 are non-residents. 8 residents are hospitalized from complications associated with COVID-19.

Since the last Dare County DHHS Update issued Tuesday, December 15, 2020, there have been 42 new positive cases. Of these 42 cases, 29 are residents and 13 are non-residents. Non-residents are individuals who do not have a permanent Dare County address listed on their license or identification card. This includes individuals who live in nearby counties, individuals who are temporarily living in Dare County for work or other related purposes, and visitors. The Dare County website has already been updated to reflect all of these cases.

Of the 29 new resident cases since Tuesday, December 15th:

16 of the cases are not connected. 15 are symptomatic and 1 is asymptomatic. All acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals whose positive test results were reported between 12/8 and 12/15
5 of the cases are not connected. All are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.
8 of the cases are not connected. 7 are symptomatic and 1 is asymptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus.

Of the 13 new non-resident cases since Tuesday, December 15th:

9 of the cases are not connected. 5 are symptomatic and 4 are asymptomatic. All 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 36 new cases and direct contacts provided by these individuals have been identified, notified, and directed to quarantine. We are working with the other 6 individuals to identify and notify their direct contacts.

Controlling the Spread

COVID-19 remains a very contagious virus and it is predominantly being spread by direct contact between friends and family members. We cannot stress enough the importance of everyone doing their part to reduce the spread of this virus by using the proven tools available – the 3 Ws. Please be responsible, protect yourself and others by following the 3Ws:

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

COVID-19 Vaccine

DCDHHS has been informed by the state that we may be receiving our first allotment of vaccine for Priority 1a healthcare workers sometime next week. We have been working this week on enrolling these eligible area healthcare providers in the state’s vaccine registry. Please visit the Dare County website vaccine specific webpage for the most up to date information on the COVID-19 vaccine in Dare County. The webpage can be found at www.darenc.com/covidvaccine.

Celebrate the Holidays Safely

NCDHHS recommends that you avoid holiday travel and limit physical contact with people who do not live with you. If you choose to travel or gather with people who live outside of your household, follow these recommendations:

Get tested for COVID-19 three to four days before traveling or attending gatherings
Do not host or attend a gathering if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms.
Guests who are high risk for complications from COVID-19 should attend events virtually.
Keep the guest list small
Live together? Sit together. If not, stay 6 feet apart.
Use single-serve options or have one person serve food so that multiple people are not handling items.
Clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as door handles and sink faucets.
Host your gathering outdoors. If that’s not possible, make sure the room is well-ventilated by opening windows and doors.

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. Testing is widely available in Dare County. Please visit www.darenc.com/covidtesting for details on testing locations .

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. Due to the upcoming holidays, written releases and videos will be issued on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 and Tuesday, December 29, 2020. The update will not be available in Spanish on Tuesday, December 22, 2020.

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.