Dare County remains in the orange according to the NC COVID Alert System, per Tuesday update

Dare County released the following COVID-19 update for Tuesday, November 24, which details the county’s most recent active cases, testing efforts, and additional community information.

Controlling the Spread

Dare County remains in the orange according to the NC COVID Alert System. Orange indicates substantial community spread based on case counts, percent of tests that are positive and hospital impact. As we head into the Thanksgiving Holiday please take the necessary precautions to keep you and your family safe. Limit gathering with others outside of your immediate household. If you are gathering with others who do not live in your home with you please wear a mask and try to maintain physical distancing of at least 6 ft apart and wash your hands frequently or use hand sanitizer.

Dare County COVID-19 Case Update

The total COVID-19 positive case count in Dare County is 972, of which there are 64 active cases among residents of Dare County. Of the 972 cases, 615 are residents and 357 are non-residents. Currently, six residents are hospitalized due to complications associated with COVID-19.

Since the last Dare County DHHS Update issued Friday, November 20, 2020, there have been 27 new positive cases. Of the 27 new cases since November 20th, 20 are residents and 7 are non-residents.

Of the 20 resident cases since Friday, November 20th:

• 3 of the cases are family members. All are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 11/11
• 9 of the cases are not connected. All are symptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus.
• 4 cases are not connected. All are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals whose positive test results were reported on 11/6, 11/17 and 11/19
• 4 of the cases are not connected. 2 are symptomatic and 2 are asymptomatic. All acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.

Of the 7 non-resident cases since Friday, November 20th:

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

Contact tracing has been completed on 24 of the new 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 and notify their direct contacts.

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 1,338 COVID-19 diagnostic tests performed in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March to 19,597.  There were 72 positive cases between November 16 and November 22. The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since we started testing in early March was the same as last week at 4.9%. The percent of positive tests to total tests for the past week alone decreased to 5.4%. Syndromic surveillance of the emergency department and the urgent care centers showed an increase in the  number of individuals presenting with COVID-19 related symptoms. 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. Testing is widely available in Dare County. Please visit www.darenc.com/covidtesting for details on testing locations.

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.