Nearly 300 individuals tested at Buxton COVID-19 testing event, per Friday update

Dare County released the following COVID-19 update for Friday, July 10, which details the county’s most recent active cases, testing efforts, and additional community information.

The number of positive COVID-19 tests in Dare County is 181. Of the 181 cases, 103 are residents and 78 are non-residents. 40 of the resident cases are considered active. 1 are currently hospitalized out of the area and 39 are in home isolation. 16 of the non-resident cases are in isolation in Dare County.

Since the last Dare County DHHS Update issued, Tuesday, July 7, there have been 31 new positive cases. Of these 31 cases, 20 are residents and 11 are non-residents. The Dare County website has already been updated to reflect all of these cases.

Of the 20 resident cases:

• 5 of the cases are connected, all symptomatic, are close contacts who acquired the virus by direct contact with an individuals whose positive test result was reported on 7/7
• 2 of the cases are family members, both symptomatic, who acquired the virus through direct contact
• 1 case is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 7/6
• 2 of cases are connected, close contacts, both asymptomatic, who acquired the virus from direct contact with an individual who tested positive outside the area
• 3 of the cases are connected, 2 symptomatic and 1 asymptomatic, who acquired the virus by direct contact with an individuals who tested positive outside the area
• 4 of the cases are household contacts, all symptomatic, who acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive result was reported on 7/8
• 3  of the cases are not connected, all symptomatic, and likely acquired the virus through community spread.

Of the 11 nonresident cases:

• 1 case is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 7/4
• 2 of the cases are family members, both symptomatic, who who acquired the virus by direct contact with another family member
• 2 additional cases are family members, one symptomatic and one asymptomatic, who acquired the virus by direct contact with another family member
• 6 of the cases are not connected. All are symptomatic and most likely acquired the virus by a community spread outside of Dare County.

Contract tracing has been completed 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.

Testing

On July 9, 2020 Dare County DHHS partnered with Mako Medical Laboratories to host an Antibody & Diagnostic testing event for COVID19 at the Fessenden Center in Buxton, NC. Nearly 300 individuals were tested at the clinic. Results from this testing event are expected to be available by Monday, July 13th and will be summarized in the update on Tuesday, July 14th.

Another testing clinic will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 starting at 1:00 p.m. at Dare County Parks & Recreation located at 602 Mustian St, Kill Devil Hills, NC. Individuals can register for an appointment for the diagnostic test, the antibody test, or both.

To schedule an appointment, please call 252.475.5008. The call center is open Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Participants are required to send a photocopy of their government-issued identification card and insurance card prior to the event.

Reducing the Spread

The majority of cases we are seeing in Dare County are the result of direct contact with a positive case. Often this direct contact is occurring before the individual who is positive develops symptoms. This speaks to the critical importance of limiting direct contact and maintaining physical distance to others. We also continue to see a large number of direct contacts associated with many of the positive cases which indicates our numbers are very likely to increase dramatically in the week ahead.

We understand social distancing is inconvenient and can be especially challenging for the young adult population given the desire to be social and enjoy time with friends. Unfortunately, if we don’t follow the 3Ws consistently (WEAR, WAIT and WASH), we are going to continue to see our numbers grow. Please help support your friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors in following the 3Ws. We don’t need finger pointing and blame, we need cooperation and cohesiveness. We have a strong community – we can get through this together!

Communications and Information Sharing

Dare County DHHS has an established schedule of communication to share information regarding COVID-19. On Tuesdays, a written update and a video update which includes an overview of the previous week’s COVID-19 key metrics is issued, on Thursdays a Spanish Video Update is issued, and 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.