A sixteenth Dare County resident has been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a videotaped message by Sheila Davies, director of the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services, that was posted online yesterday.
The person became infected with the coronavirus, Dr. Davies said in a videotape on the Dare Emergency Management website, because of “direct contact involving work outside of the area.”
The person is “currently recovering in home isolation,” she said.
The health department director said that Dare County received “notification” of his/her positive test result yesterday and has already done contact tracing.
Dr. Davies stressed that the new case is “not indicative of community spread.”
See videotape at https://www.darenc.com/departments/health-human-services/coronavirus.
“Mixed Picture” Statewide
Apropos of The Beacon’s 4/30/20 post about North Carolina flunking a study of social distancing, we note that in his press conference yesterday, Governor Roy Cooper spoke about people” blatantly ignoring the rules” imposed by his stay-at-home order, which expires at 5 p.m. May 8.
The Governor said that too many people are not considering social restrictions a matter of life and death.
Both the Governor and Secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen said they “remain hopeful” that some restrictions may be eased next week with the initiation of Phase One of a three-phase plan that they have outlined.
But the overall picture of the trends that they are following, they said–the four metrics that must decline–is “mixed.”
For details about the Governor and Dr. Cohen’s metrics and three-phase plan, see The Beacon on 4/23/20and 4/24/20
While the number of COVID-19 tests being conducted in the state has increased substantially, the number of hospitalizations and the number of confirmed cases continue to rise. North Carolina has not yet hit a peak in COVID-19 cases.
The Governor said that he would make his decision next week on the basis of the “science, data, and trends.” We trust he will do so, and not yield to pressure to do otherwise.
Dare County’s Bulletin
Today’s Dare County Emergency Management COVID-19 bulletin, no. 54, is available at https://www.darenc.com/Home/Components/News/News/6216/1483.
The bulletin is largely duplicative of previous bulletins and does not report any important new information.
The Joint Information Center of the emergency management department is now issuing COVID-19 bulletins three times per week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 5/1/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 