Dare County has seen 57 new COVID-19 cases this week alone, and health officials say the spike isn’t due to increased testing.
As of Friday, the number of positive COVID-19 tests in Dare County was 769, of which there are 53 active cases among residents of Dare County. Of the 769 cases, 452 are residents and 317 are non-residents. Four residents are now hospitalized from complications associated with COVID-19.
Since Dare County Health and Human Service’s last virus update on Tuesday, there were 31 new positive cases. Of these 31 cases, 26 are residents and five are non-residents.
Of the 26 new resident cases since Tuesday, November 3rd:
- 5 of the cases are connected. All are symptomatic. One individual acquired the virus by community spread and then spread the virus to the other 4 direct contacts.
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 10/31.
- 1 individual is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 11/3.
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 11/2.
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 11/1.
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with a household contact whose positive test result was reported on 10/31
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 10/30
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 10/29
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with a household contact whose positive test result was reported on 11/4
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual whose positive test result was reported on 11/4
- 4 of the cases are not connected. All are symptomatic. These individuals acquired the virus by direct contact with individuals who tested positive outside of Dare County.
- 8 of the cases are not connected. 6 are symptomatic and 1 is asymptomatic. It is unclear how these individuals acquired the virus.
- Of the 5 new non-resident cases since Tuesday, November 3rd:
- 4 of the cases are not connected. All are symptomatic. It is unclear how this individual acquired the virus.
- 1 individual is symptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with an individual who tested positive outside of Dare County.
Contract tracing has been completed on all of the 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.
Controlling the Spread
COVID-19 remains a very contagious virus, health officials say.
“We have seen an increase in new positive cases in Dare County over the past two weeks. Just this week we are already at 57 new cases of COVID 19,” the department said in its Friday update.
Below is some additional information regarding the most recent cases this week:
- The increase in cases is not due to an increase in testing. Last week had the lowest number of tests performed in Dare County as compared to the three previous weeks.
- 68% of the new cases are Dare County residents
- 72% of the new cases acquired the virus by direct contact with a positive individual; 28% of new cases could not identify how they acquired the virus, which indicates community spread
- 88% of the new cases are symptomatic
“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 W,” health officials said.
Testing
Health officials 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 .