Dare County has conducted a total of 357 COVID-19 tests, per video update

Dare County released the total number of tests conducted in the county for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, stating that a total of 357 tests have been performed since March, in a recent video update.

As of April 26, the number of tests in relation to the population is just below 1% at .96% for Dare County. Per the video, this is in line with the percent of tests being conducted statewide, which is 1.04%

“Up to this point, the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services has been following the same communicable disease reporting practices for COVID-19 as we have for all communicable diseases, such as HIV, measles, or STDs, and only reporting positive case numbers, and not the number of tests [performed.],” stated Sheila Davies, Dare County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director, in the video.

“However, after careful consideration of the impact COVID-19 is having on our community, including the stress and fear many are experiencing, and the desire for the public to have more information, I believe it is the right thing to do to step outside our communicable disease practices and report the number of tests [conducted.]”

Dare County’s total number of cases remains at 15, and has not changed for the past 18 days.

The total number of cases will continue to be reported weekly in Dare County’s Tuesday video updates.

The full video is above, and is available for streaming Dare County’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/DareCounty. It has also been shared on the Department of Health and Human Services’ FaceBook page and on Dare County’s Twitter account @DareCountyGovt. The video will be broadcast on Current TV Government Channel 191 for local Spectrum TV customers. CurrentTV’s programming schedule and additional programming is available for viewing on-demand at CurrentTV.org.