A Dare County resident who tested positive recently for COVID-19 and was in home isolation has been hospitalized, according to today’s Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard.
Meanwhile, two of the non-residents who tested positive recently in Dare County and were transferred to their home counties for isolation have recovered, the dashboard shows.
There have been no changes in total COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Dare County since last Sunday when six cases were reported, bringing the total to 32.
Evidence of a COVID-19 outbreak on a statewide basis continues to accrue as cases and hospitalizations in North Carolina have steadily increased since the Governor authorized Phase One of the economic reopening on May 8.
Phase Two started May 22 and is scheduled to expire June 26, unless the Governor extends it.
“Our metrics have moved in the wrong direction,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, told The Washington Post Monday.
North Carolina joins Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, as states that have experienced a “new wave” of cases since Memorial Day, according to The Post.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina have nearly tripled during the past month. The total as of today is 39,481 cases, according to the NCDHHS dashboard.
Total hospitalizations reported today stand at 812. A month ago, the total was 464. The state has recorded 1,064 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic started.
Since Phase One started May 8, North Carolina has reported single-day positive-test rates of between 2.3 percent and 12 percent, for an average of 6.7 percent.
Dr. Cohen would prefer to see an average positive test rate of 5 percent or lower.
About 5.4 percent of the State’s 10.5 million people have been tested for the virus.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/11/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 