Dare County COVID-19 cases continue to rise



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For the third week in a row, Dare County is seeing an increase in COVID-19 infections. The total number of new positive cases reported in Dare County over the past week was 54.

Among these :

43 (80%) are symptomatic

51 (94%) contracted the virus through direct contact with unvaccinated people who tested positive for COVID-19.

9 breakthrough cases reported last week (3 had the J&J vaccine; 3 had Moderna and 3 had Pfizer).

Currently, there are 34 active cases of COVID-19 among residents of Dare County. There have been a total of 28 groundbreaking COVID-19 cases reported in Dare County since COVID vaccination began. However, the attack rate of the virus is much lower in the vaccinated population than in the unvaccinated population.

Protect yourself and your family

Epidemiological data indicates that Dare State and County are at the start of a new wave of COVID-19 infections. The Delta variant is believed to be prevalent in County Dare and is a significantly more contagious variant. Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself against COVID-19. People who are vaccinated are much less likely to be infected with COVID-19 than those who are not. In the small percentage of breakthrough cases, those vaccinated have mild or no symptoms.

In addition to getting the vaccine, other ways to protect yourself and your family include limiting prolonged direct contact with unvaccinated people who do not live in your household, wearing a mask when you are in large crowds. , especially indoors, and wash your hands frequently with soap and water or using hand sanitizer.

Vaccination clinics for the start of the school year

The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services will offer two COVID-19 vaccination clinics (and corresponding second-dose clinics) before the start of the school year. These clinics will provide the Pfizer vaccine, which is approved for use by people 12 years of age and older. In addition to preventing serious illness and death, current CDC and NC DHHS guidelines state that fully vaccinated people are not required to self-quarantine if exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19, as long as that the vaccinated person remains symptomatic. free. To register for a vaccination appointment, please visit our website at www.darenc.com/covidvaccine to complete the vaccination request form. The staff will then call you to make an appointment. The next clinic dates are:

Thursday July 29 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Buxton

Friday July 30 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Nags Head

COVID Vaccinations in Dare

All people 12 years of age and older are encouraged to get the COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccines are readily available in many locations across the county, including the health department and many area pharmacies, such as: Walgreens, CVS, Sunshine Family Pharmacy, Island Pharmacy, Bear Drugs, and Beach Pharmacy.

As of the end of December 2020, a total of 23,220 (63%) of eligible residents of Dare County have received an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 22,240 (60%) are fully immunized.

Key indicators

Each week we review the 4 key parameters associated with disease investigation and surveillance. The metrics are:

Number of trials

Confirmed cases

Positive tests as a percentage of total tests

Monitoring COVID as a disease

Last week, 448 COVID-19 diagnostic tests were reported in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests carried out since early March last year to 42,229. There were 54 positive cases between July 12 and July 18. The percentage of positive tests compared to overall testing in Dare County since we started testing in March 2020 has risen to 8.10%. The percentage of positive tests compared to the total number of tests over the past week also increased to 12.1%. Syndromic surveillance of people with COVID-like symptoms in the emergency department and emergency care centers has shown increased activity. These graphics are available on the Dare County website at www.darenc.com/covid19.

Communications and information sharing

Dare County DHHS has established a communications schedule to share information regarding COVID-19. Every Tuesday, a written update that includes key COVID-19 metrics from the previous week is released. Additional updates will be released as needed. All posted videos and written updates are available 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 in your email, please sign up to receive our notifications.

New positive cases are updated on the dashboard and on our website and shared on the DHHS facebook page every Tuesday. To find the most recent 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 can also call the Dare County COVID-19 Call Center, open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 252-475-5008.



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