A sixth Dare County resident has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a bulletin released this morning by the Dare County Emergency Management.
“The individual is currently in isolation and being monitored,” said Dr. Sheila Davies, director of the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services.
According to DCEM Bulletin No. 31, the infected person may have acquired the coronavirus from an asymptomatic person, indicating community spread, which is transmission that cannot be traced to a known infected person or to travel to an epidemic area. In other words, the source of transmission cannot be identified.
County public health officials have not “found any connection between this individual and any other individuals who have tested positive in Dare County,” according to the bulletin.
Dr. Davies further commented that the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention has reported that as many as 25 percent of the people infected with COVID-19 may not show symptoms. That fact is one of the principal concerns of this new highly contagious virus.
Bulletin No. 31 also stresses the “likelihood” that Dare County is “starting to see community spread of COVID-19.” It is “imperative,” the bulletin states, that people restrict all nonessential movement and only go out when absolutely necessary.
Don’t cheat, in other words. (See The Beacon, 3/30/20.)
For the bulletin, see https://www.darenc.com/Home/Components/News/News/6085/1483.
The Beacon is expecting to post other news of positive COVID-19 tests later today and during the coming days. It would appear that more testing is taking place and viral transmission is spreading. If you protect yourself, you protect others, too.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 4/5/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 