Two more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 35, according to today’s Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard.
The dashboard data show that one of the new cases is a Dare County resident; the other is not. One is female; the other is male. One is between the ages of 18 and 24; and the other is age 65 or older.
The Dare County resident is in home isolation, according to the dashboard report. The non-resident is in isolation in his or her home county.
It is impossible to distinguish in the dashboard data which is which, and Dr. Sheila Davies, director of the DCDHHS, has consistently withheld specific demographic details about the people who have tested positive. She will give a sketchy description of virus transmission about the three cases reported this weekend in her videotaped update on Tuesday. (We will update if any other cases are reported today.)
The DCDHHS dashboard also shows that the non-resident who was in home isolation in Dare County has recovered.
Today’s statewide COVID-19 statistics present another large increase in the number of laboratory-confirmed tests, but a decline in the number of hospitalizations.
Since yesterday’s N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard report, 1,443 people have tested positive for the virus out of 15,440 completed tests, for a positive test rate of 9.3 percent. Dr. Mandy Cohen, NCDHHS secretary, has said that she would like to see a consistent positive-test rate of 5 percent or lower.
Since May 4—42 days, or six weeks ago—when The Beacon started keeping a daily record of the NCDHHS statistics, the positive-test rate has been 5 percent or lower on only nine days.
Hospitalizations declined today to 798 from yesterday’s single-day record high of 823. Five more people have succumbed to COVID-19, bringing the number of reported deaths in North Carolina to 1,109. Eleven percent of the deaths have been in Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located.
For more demographic information about COVID-19 cases in North Carolina, see:
https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/cases
Stay safe and healthy, everyone.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/14/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 