Dare Releases New Details on Recent COVID-19 Cases

Posted By Matt Artz on June 30, 2020

The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has released new details on the most recently reported cases of COVID-19.

The number of positive COVID-19 tests in Dare County is 97, 36 of which are considered active and in home isolation. Of the 97 cases, 59 are residents and 38 are non-residents.

Since the last Dare County DHHS update issued, Friday, June 26, there have been 20 new positive cases. Of these 20 cases, 18 are residents and two are non-residents.

Of the 18 resident cases:

• 12 of the cases are connected. The 12 individuals are close acquaintances or family members and acquired the virus through direct contact. 4 are symptomatic and 8 are asymptomatic.
• 3 of the cases are family members, all symptomatic, who acquired the virus from another family member whose positive result was reported on 6/24.
• 1 is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive result was reported on 6/24.
• 2 other cases are not connected. One is asymptomatic and one is symptomatic and both most likely acquired the virus by community spread.

Of the two nonresident cases:

• The cases are not connected
• One is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact outside of Dare County
• One is symptomatic and most likely acquired the virus through community spread outside of Dare County

Contract tracing has been completed and direct contacts provided by these 18 resident individuals have been identified, notified, and directed to quarantine for 14 days from the last date of exposure with the positive case. Calls are made to check on compliance with the quarantine directive and legal action can be taken for individuals violating quarantine and isolation orders.

Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick. Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.  Isolation and quarantine are public health tools to help protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have a contagious disease. These may seem like extreme measures and we hope to never have to use them but they exist to protect the public from individuals who choose not to do the right thing.

Testing

Area healthcare providers are experiencing a delay in receiving results from the commercial laboratories. The turn around time to receive results is now taking on average 4 days. This delay is being experienced across the region due to the increase in testing. The lab companies have communicated they are working to improve the turnaround time and hope to get back to the 48 hour – 72 hour turnaround time soon.

Key Metrics

Dare County DHHS monitors and evaluates 4 key metrics associates 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 had the highest number of COVID-19 diagnostic tests performed by healthcare providers in Dare County at 578 tests. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March to 2,569. There were 44 positive cases between June 22 and June 28. The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since local testing began in early March increased slightly this week to 3.62%. The percent positive to total test for the past week alone was 7.6%.

The syndromic surveillance of individuals who presented to the emergency department with COVID-19 like symptoms increased this week. There has also been an increase in the number of sick individuals presenting to the area urgent care centers. These graphs can be found on the dare county website at www.darenc.com/covid19.

Cloth face masks or coverings are mandatory to be worn in any public spaces where social distancing can’t be maintained in Dare County and throughout North Carolina. Read more here.

Local and state health officials continue to strongly encourage everyone to follow the 3 Ws – wear a cloth face covering if you will be with other people, wait at least six feet apart and avoid close contact with other people, and wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer. 

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