*SAT., OCT. 31: Early voting ends at 3 p.m. From tomorrow through Friday, you may vote at the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall from 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. The polling place will open at 8 a.m. on the 31st, but close early.
Sat., Oct. 31, is also HALLOWEEN, of course. N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen recommends that everyone wear a face mask during their celebrations, even if they’re wearing a costume mask, and social distance.
Any scenario in which many people gather together poses an increased risk of COVID-19 transmission. For the NCDHHS’s guidance for a safer, lower-risk Halloween, see https://files.nc.gov/covid/documents/guidance/NCDHHS-Interim-Guidance-for-Halloween.pdf.
*SUN., NOV. 1: Daylight Saving Time ends and Eastern Standard Time returns at 2 a.m., as we “fall back” and gain an hour on the clock. Halloween night owls should appreciate the extra hour of sleep.
*TUES., NOV. 3: General Election Day. Southern Shores voters may cast their ballots at the new Kitty Hawk Elementary School polling place from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Please tell your neighbors not to go to the Pitts Center, especially if they’re running late. The word has been out about the new polling place for a while, but there will still be people who have not heard.
*WED., NOV. 4: The Town Council will hold its regular monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. The Beacon will publish the agenda when it is available.
*THURS., NOV. 5: The DCDHHS is partnering with Mako Medical Laboratories to offer drive-thru COVID-19 diagnostic testing at the Soundside Event Site, 6800 S. Croatan Hwy., in Nags Head. The starting time has not yet been announced. The testing is open to individuals age 5 and older. For more details, see The Beacon, 10/23/20, or www.darenc.com/covidtesting or call the county’s COVID-19 call center at (252) 475-5008, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
*TUES., NOV. 17: The Southern Shores Capital Infrastructure Improvement Planning Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in the Pitts Center. Please see The Beacon, 10/23/20, for its proposed agenda. There is no indication from the Town yet that this meeting will be live-streamed. People who attend in person must wear masks and observe social distancing.
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COVID-19: N.C. SETS NEW RECORD FOR SINGLE-DAY CASE REPORTS
North Carolina set a new single-day record high of 2,716 COVID-19 case reports on Friday, 32 more than the previous record of 2,684 cases set just the previous Friday, Oct. 16. Yesterday’s new case count statewide was also high at 2,584.
October is turning out to be a more worrisome month for COVID-19 in North Carolina than July, which was once thought to be the calendar peak for infections.
Locally, the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services reported three new COVID-19 cases yesterday, two residents and one nonresident, all of whom are in home isolation.
The total number of cases reported in Dare County since March is now 670, 381 residents and 289 nonresidents.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 10/25/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 