Dare County health officials said Friday that nearly almost one-third of the total number of COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed over the last four weeks.
On Wednesday, North Carolina reported more than 1,800 people in the hospital due to the coronavirus for the first time.
Statewide daily new cases were at 4,174 on Thursday, the fourth-most since the pandemic began. There were 3,834 new cases across North Carolina on Friday.
According to the latest bulletin posted by the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services, the number of positive COVID-19 tests in Dare County is 1035, of which there are active cases among residents of Dare County.
Of the 1035 cases, 655 are residents and 380 are non-residents. Eight residents remain hospitalized from complications associated with COVID-19.
Since the last Dare County DHHS Update issued Tuesday, November 24, 2020, there have been 63 new positive cases. Of these 63 cases, 40 are residents and 23 are non-residents. The Dare County website has already been updated to reflect all of these cases.
Of the 40 new resident cases since Tuesday, November 24th:
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5 of the cases are connected. All symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 11/22
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2 of the cases are family members. Both are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual who tested positive outside of Dare County.
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7 of the cases are not connected. Both are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.
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18 of the cases are not connected. 15 are symptomatic and 3 are asymptomatic. All acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals whose positive test results have been reported between 11/10 and 11/23.
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8 of the cases are not connected. All are symptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus.
Of the 23 new non-resident cases since Tuesday, November 24th:
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2 of the cases are connected. Both are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.
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4 of the cases are connected. All are symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.
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2 of the cases are connected. 1 is symptomatic and 1 is asymptomatic. Both acquired the virus by direct contact with a family member who tested positive outside of Dare County.
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4 of the cases are not connected. 1 is symptomatic and 3 are asymptomatic. All acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.
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9 of the cases are not connected. All are symptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus.
Contact tracing has been completed on 56 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. We are working with the other 7 individuals to identify and notify their direct contacts.
Controlling the Spread
COVID-19 remains a very contagious virus. We have seen an increase in new positive cases in Dare County over the past 3 weeks. Of the 1035 total cases in Dare County since March, 332 (or 32%) have occurred just in the month of November. In addition to the increase in overall number of cases, a concerning increase is in the number of individuals who are experiencing a resurgence of symptoms after initially only experiencing mild symptoms. Just this past week, 11 individuals had to seek medical attention at the emergency department because of symptoms related to COVID-19.
We cannot stress enough the importance of everyone doing their part to reduce the spread of this virus by using the proven tools available – the 3 Ws. Please be responsible, protect yourself and others by following the 3Ws:
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Wear a cloth face covering if you will be with other people.
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Wait 6 feet apart. Avoid close contact.
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Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer
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 .
If you have questions about testing or locations please visit www.darenc.com/covidtesting or call the COVID-19 call center, open Monday – Friday from 8:30 am – 5 pm at 252-475-5008.
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.
Contact Us
We encourage you to stay informed by visiting www.darenc.com/covid19 or by visiting the CDC or NC DHHS websites. If you have specific needs or questions you may also call the Dare County COVID-19 call center open Monday-Friday from 8:30 to 5:00 at 252-475-5008.
This story originally appeared on OBXToday.com. Read More local stories here.
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