Hyde County is reporting an uptick in positive laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 27 active cases as of Monday afternoon. Ten of the cases are on Ocracoke, with another 17 from mainland Hyde County.
“I know people are weary and tired of COVID-19. I am, too,” said Hyde County Health Director Luana Gibbs. “We must do everything we can to reduce community spread.”
Health officials say the recent increase in cases is a result of both gatherings at homes over the Thanksgiving holiday, as well as a number of community get-togethers in North Carolina’s second-smallest county by population.
“We have lost five members of our county to this extremely contagious virus,” Gibbs said. “We do not want to lose more, and you never know who will have a mild case, versus a serious or lethal case.”
The safest way to protect yourself is to avoid unnecessary gatherings of people you do not live with, wear a facial covering when you are in public, practice social distancing of 6 feet or more, and wash your hands frequently.
“Please practice the 3 Ws and stay at home as much as possible,” Gibbs said.
The Hyde County Health Department is also now using Carolina Community Tracing Collaborative to perform both case investigations and contact tracing.
If you receive a call from this organization and you do not answer, they will identify themselves as calling on behalf of the Hyde County Health Department and ask you to call the statewide call center at 844-628-7223.
Please follow all of their instructions.
As always, the Hyde County Health Department remains available to the public to answer questions and provide education. We can be reached at 926-4399 Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. For 24/7 on-call services, dial 1-866-462-3821, the Coronavirus Hotline.
Get your information from reliable sources, such as:
- CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/Coronavirus
- NC Division of Health and Human Services, http://www.ncdhhs.gov
- Hyde County Health Department, http://www.hydehealth.com, 252-926-4399