If you are a permanent resident of Dare, Currituck, Hyde, or Tyrrell county, you do not need an entry permit to enter Dare County.
Dare County is reporting that no one with proper identification—either a valid N.C. driver’s license with an address in one of the local counties or a government-issued identification card with a local address—will be denied entry.
If you are a non-resident property owner in Dare County, you will be permitted to enter the county if you show a current tax bill or parcel data sheet with a current matching government-issued identification card. You, too, do not need an entry permit.
Since the entry system was launched yesterday at 1 p.m.–an hour before the restriction on visitor entry took effect–Dare County Emergency Management has reportedly processed over 9,000 entry permits. The high volume of applications has caused users many difficulties, however, and the County is asking people who do not need a permit immediately to wait and apply when they do need one.
To expedite the checkpoint process, the Dare County Sheriff’s Office has asked all commercial traffic entering the county to use the right lane, and all non-commercial, “regular” traffic to use the left lane.
As of 11:30 a.m. today, no one had tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County, according to Dare County Emergency Management.
County public health officials are continuing to encourage members of the local community to practice “social distancing,” which means staying a minimum of six feet away from other people whenever possible.
They are also advising people to avoid discretionary travel, shopping trips, social visits, and social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people.
You may access the Dare Emergency Management website and its bulletins here: https://www.darenc.com/departments/emergency-management
GROCERY AND PRESCRIPTION PICKUPS, DELIVERIES
Southern Shores Town Councilman Jim Conners contacted The Beacon today with information about how residents may purchase groceries and order prescriptions without visiting the retail stores. Mr. Conners emailed the following:
Recently I visited or called the following stores to see if they delivered prescription drugs or groceries:
Food Lion (Southern Shores Marketplace); telephone: (252) 261-3205
You may order goods online and then pick them up in a designated area of the parking lot, or you may arrange for their delivery. See https://www.foodlion.com/stores/nc/southern_shores/1274/.
Harris Teeter (Kill Devil Hills); telephone: (252) 449-9191
You may order online and then pick up.
Publix (Kill Devil Hills); telephone: (252) 255-5006
Order online and Publix will deliver
CVS Pharmacy (Kill Devil Hills); telephone: (252) 441-3633
Order prescription drugs, and CVS will mail them to you within one to two days
Dare County Social Services also has provisions for delivering prescription medications and other services that can be used by “homebound” residents, Councilman Conners says.
Mr. Conners further notes that Walmart and Home Depot have provisions for ordering goods online and then delivering them to buyers via FedEx or UPS.
Thank you, Councilman Conners.
The Beacon welcomes other information about local delivery and pick-up services that residents may use to avoid potential exposure to the coronavirus. We anticipate that supermarkets, pharmacies, and other essential providers will be changing their practices to accommodate the current situation.
RESTAURANTS OFFERING TAKEOUT AND DELIVERY
Outer Banks This Week has compiled lists of local restaurants that are offering either carryout food service alone or both carryout and delivery. The Beacon has not called the restaurants listed to confirm that the services are being provided.
Local writer Hannah Lee Leidy publishes Outer Banks This Week, which is online at outerbanksthisweek.com.
In or near Southern Shores, Coastal Provisions is reportedly offering carryout food service, and Cosmos’s Pizzeria and the Black Pelican are offering both carryout and delivery.
You may access the lists of restaurants here:
https://outerbanksthisweek.com/blog/covid-19-update-outer-banks-restaurants-shift-carry-out
COVID-19 CASE STUDY
Among the many articles I have read about symptoms of the new coronavirus, I found this one published in The Washington Post today among the most enlightening because it describes progression of the disease in a healthy 54-year-old woman:
Many people have seasonal allergies at this time of year, and we are still experiencing the cold and influenza season. While there is a risk involved in self-diagnosing without the advice of a physician, there is also a risk involved in assuming respiratory symptoms signify the worst and over-burdening the local health-care system. We believe the more credible information people have, the better.
RECYCLING UPDATE: MARCH 30 MEETING OF COUNTY, TOWN OFFICIALS EXPECTED TO BE CONDUCTED REMOTELY
A major meeting scheduled in Manteo March 30 of State, Dare County, and town officials and representatives to discuss “different options to move forward” in the current recycling crisis is likely to be held remotely, according to Sandy Skolochenko, a community development specialist with the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality.
The meeting may be held as a Webinar conference, Ms. Skolochenko said today.
As The Beacon previously reported, the State Division of Waste Management has granted a “temporary exemption” to Southern Shores and other Dare County towns, enabling them to contract with Bay Disposal & Recycling to transport their recyclables to a waste-to-energy incinerator in Virginia, in lieu of recycling them.
Bay Disposal has been taking the loads of Outer Banks recycling that it collects to Wheelabrator in Portsmouth since last December, when Tidewater Fibre Corp. (TFC) stopped accepting them at its materials recycling facility in Chesapeake. Materials recycling facilities like TFC’s receive, separate, and prepare recyclables for marketing to end-user manufacturers.
(For background, see, e.g., The Beacon on 1/18/20, 2/14/20, 3/12/20.)
Ms. Skolochenko described the State’s regulatory exemption as a “temporary holding pattern,” which is in effect until April 15.
N.C. law prohibits the disposal of plastics and aluminum cans in landfills, as well as in incinerators.
Nags Head Town Manager Cliff Ogburn is coordinating the March 30 meeting, she said, which should be open to the public and to the media, regardless of what form it takes.
The Beacon will update this story when more information becomes available.
BREAKING NEWS: The Beacon is just learning that Ocracoke Island will close to visitors starting tomorrow at 5 a.m., and the Currituck County beaches of Corolla and Carova will close to visitors, as of Saturday at 9 a.m. Officials in Hyde and Currituck counties have instituted states of emergency. See OBX Today for more details at https://obxtoday.com/coronavirus/ocracoke-island-outer-banks-northern-beaches-closing-to-visitors/?fbclid=IwAR2FVraeJ0umb3Rcxx_N8d6KEguyLy1qY-2Fv2sRfQzuoE1tEWh3iLnq770.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 3/18/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 