Dare County Releases Update on 12 Most Recent COVID-19 Cases
The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has released updated details on the 12 most recent cases of COVID-19 reported since Friday.
The total COVID-19 positive case count in Dare County is 402, of which 11 are considered active cases and 9 of those are active in Dare County. Of the 402 cases, 216 are residents and 186 are non-residents.
Since the last Dare County DHHS Update issued Friday, August 14, there have been 12 new positive cases. Of these 12 cases, 5 are residents and 7 are non-residents.
Of the 5 resident cases since Friday, August 14th
- 1 of the cases is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual who tested positive outside of Dare County.
- 2 of the cases are not connected, one symptomatic and one is asymptomatic. Both acquired the virus from family members who tested positive outside of Dare County.
- 2 of the cases are not connected, both symptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus which indicates community spread.
Of the 7 non-resident cases since Friday, August 14th:
- 1 of the cases is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual who tested positive outside of Dare County
- 1 fo the cases is symptomatic and acquired the virus from a family member whose positive test result was reported on 8/14.
- 2 of the cases are family members, both symptomatic. It is unclear how the individuals acquired the virus which indicates community spread
- 2 of the cases are not connected, one symptomatic and one asymptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus which indicates community spread.
- 1 of the cases is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual who tested positive on 8/12.
Contact tracing has been completed on all 12 of the 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.
For the 4th week in a row Dare has seen a decrease in the number of new positive cases in he county. The week of July 20 there were 55 new cases, the week of July 27 there 42 new cases, the week of August 3rd there were 21 new cases and this past week there were 18 news cases. The DHHS is very pleased with these numbers and strongly encourages everyone in our community to continue to exercise good personal responsibility. For this trend of lower case numbers to continue, we all must continue to use the proven tools we have available. Please remain vigilant and follow the 3Ws to help protect you, your family, and our community from COVID-19.
- 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
Key Metrics
Each week, the DHHS reviews 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 1,101 COVID-19 diagnostic tests performed in Dare County. 1093 were performed by local healthcare providers and 108 were performed at the community testing event held on August 11th. This brings the total number of tests performed since early March to 9,341. There were 18 positive cases between August 10 and August 16. The percent of positive tests to overall tests in Dare County since we started testing in early March decreased again this week for the 4th week in a row, to 4.24%. The percent positive to total tests for the past week alone was 1.63%. Syndromic surveillance of the emergency department showed a drop in the number of individuals presenting with COVID-19 related symptoms. However, local urgent care centers continued to see a high number of patients presenting with COVID like symptoms over the past week. These graphs can be found on the dare county website at www.darenc.com/covid19
COVID Questions and Guidance
If you have specific questions regarding COVID-19 please use the resources available. The DHHS welcomes your phone calls at the COVID-19 call center at 252-475-5008 or you may email your questions at [email protected].
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