The elderly man who was hospitalized recently for COVID-19 contracted the viral disease through direct contact with household members who attended a large gathering where people did not maintain social distancing or wear face coverings, according to a message released this afternoon by Dr. Sheila Davies, Dare County’s health director.

In fact, the majority of the recent COVID-19 cases in Dare County, Dr. Davies further explains, are “locals who acquired the virus by direct contact” with others at this same large gathering, not by contact or community spread in a restaurant or a grocery store, as you might suspect.

The message: People are not being infected by out-of-town visitors who brought the virus with them.

But there is no denying that confirmed COVID-19 cases have increased more than 400 percent since May 16, when the ban on visitors was lifted.

“The spread we are seeing currently is local-to-local spread because people are not following the guidelines,” Dr. Davies says.

You cannot state the facts any more plainly than that: The recent spread of COVID-19 is being caused by Dare County residents who are not acting responsibly.

While the majority of the people who recently tested positive for COVID-19 are “only experiencing mild to moderate symptoms,” the health director says, the older patient upon whom we earlier reported “required treatment at the hospital.”

Dr. Davies asks everyone living or visiting Dare County to take COVID-19 “seriously” and to “play your part in preventing and slowing the spread” by:

*Not attending or hosting gatherings of more than 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors [as Phase Two requires];

*Following the 3 W’s—wear a face covering, wait six feet away, and wash your hands frequently—when you leave home;

*Sharing all details of your activity during the timeframe that you discuss with a contact tracer. [This is the first time that we’ve heard that people are not being forthcoming with contact tracers.];

*Quarantining for 14 days when you are contacted by the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services and informed that you are a direct contact; and

*Remaining in isolation until you are directed otherwise by the DCDHHS staff.

Anyone who violates a quarantine or isolation order can be charged with a misdemeanor offense that is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment, according to Dr. Davies, who would rather not resort to criminal charges, which exist, she says, “to protect the public from individuals who choose not to do the right thing.”

Dr. Davies also reveals in her message that “a large number of people” are getting tested for COVID-19 at urgent care centers “because they are curious or they believe they [may have been] in direct contact” with someone who may have tested positive.

If you are sick, she advises, you should call your healthcare provider before you visit an urgent care center. Do not simply show up.

If you are not sick and merely curious, you should call the Dare Care COVID-19 call center at (252) 475-5008 for guidance.

“We must work together,” she concludes, “to ensure our healthcare providers are available for those who truly need them.”

THREE MORE COVID-19 CASES REPORTED TODAY

 Since we posted our earlier blog about the hospitalized COVID-19 patient, the DCDHHS dashboard has reported that three more people have tested positive: Demographically, they are two Dare County residents and one non-resident; two men and one woman; two between the ages of 18 and 24, and one between the ages of 25 and 49.

All three are in home isolation, the non-resident being transferred out of the area.

The dashboard also reports that one of the two Dare County residents who was hospitalized has been discharged to home isolation.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/29/20

Click to access Agendas_2020-07-07.pdf

 

A Dare County man who is age 65 or older has been hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a report on today’s Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard, which does not identify where the man is hospitalized.

The local resident is the first person in the higher-risk, older-age group to test positive for COVID-19 in Dare County since June 16.

During the past two weeks, 51 other people under age 65—most of them under age 50—have tested positive in Dare County for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The county’s case total is now 94, of whom 10 are age 65 or older (about 11 percent).

On Friday, the DCDHHS confirmed that Dare County is experiencing widespread community transmission of COVID-19. (See The Beacon, 6/26/20.)

Today’s dashboard also reports that since yesterday, five Dare County residents have recovered from COVID-19 or been symptomatically cleared. Of the currently active 31 cases among locals, 29 are in home isolation, and two are in the hospital, including the case reported today.

Three non-residents diagnosed with COVID-19 who were isolating in Dare County have recovered or been symptomatically cleared, the dashboard also shows. That leaves three non-residents still in isolation here, and 21 others who have transferred to isolation in their home counties.

The patient reported today is only the third to be hospitalized, according to The Beacon’s accounting. One of the previously hospitalized patients died.

The DCDHHS will give an update tomorrow on the COVID-19 cases diagnosed locally since its last report on Friday. We will be very interested to learn any details it is willing to provide about how the gentleman who is hospitalized contracted the virus.

STATEWIDE, the COVID-19 metrics continue to be higher than Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, would like to see.

According to today’s NCDHHS dashboard, 1,342 new cases were diagnosed in the latest 24-hour reporting period, with a positive-test rate of 9.3 percent. Hospitalizations declined by 47 to 843. Hospitalizations hit a single-day high on June 23 with 915.

We will report at the end of the day any additional COVID-19 cases that may be confirmed by the DCDHHS dashboard.

ANN G. SJOERDSMA, 6/29/20

The tenure of new Town Manager Timothy Clifton (“Cliff”) Ogburn has begun in one very visible way: by the start of a much-needed revision of the Town of Southern Shores’ website homepage.

We hope Mr. Ogburn, who resigned his job as Nags Head town manager to come to Southern Shores, does not stop with the improvements made so far. There is so much more that he can do with the website to make it of practical value to property owners and residents—like the highly informative and accessible Nags Head town website is.

The Southern Shores website has long been an unattractive, user-unfriendly platform whose design lends itself to concealment, not to the dissemination of public information.

Until former Town Councilmen Gary McDonald and Fred Newberry advocated for it, the website did not even have a search function. Finding information on the site was often—and still can be—a matter of frustrating trial-and-error.

Even today, if you click on “Beach Nourishment” in the “Most Requested” topics column on the homepage—a list that should be alphabetical—you will be directed to far less information than if you submit a search for “beach nourishment.”

The first obvious improvement to the homepage is the elimination of all of the clutter at the top of the page. The placement of news bulletins in this location has never been effective or eye-pleasing, just messy and hard to read.

Another new improvement to the homepage—which has been an obvious need for ages—is the publication of actual news in Southern Shores. There is now a comprehensive news thread that you can skim through after checking on the “News” button on the homepage.

The top news item on the thread should be an announcement that Mr. Ogburn started working last week. His hiring was announced in the Town newsletter, but not his actual arrival date.

We are hopeful that Mr. Ogburn will reach out to Southern Shores property owners and residents through the website and encourage an open and free-flowing dialogue, as well as an amicable relationship. The website can be an excellent communication tool in the right hands.

We also would like to see him do the same in the newsletter, which currently is devoid of news that is of much consequence to anyone who lives in Southern Shores or owns property here and lives elsewhere.

We would like to suggest that the “Rumor or Fact?” button on the homepage be eliminated or retitled.

The phrase, “Rumor or Fact?,” dates to a time when some property owners distrusted the Town Council and the former Town Manager, and relations became adversarial. It is a phrase associated with the former Town Manager, who did not reach out to residents in a spirit of cooperative and friendly problem-solving, and we know that Mr. Ogburn’s style is going to be much different.

There is some useful information in the “Rumor or Fact” thread, but it is presented in the context of conflict. We would like to see this information rewritten and presented in a manner that is for the benefit of property owners and residents, not for their apparent correction. Some of these “facts,” such as the item about yard signs, even carry veiled threats.

The information accessible through the “Legislation Update” button is more than 3 ½ years old. We would love to be able to read about recent relevant legislation and suggest deleting any news items that pertain to legislative matters before 2019.

Much cleanup remains to be done of the Town’s website, but we congratulate Mr. Ogburn for starting the process.

We look forward to seeing if this week’s Town newsletter has his imprint on it, too.

BEACH NOURISHMENT

We have been struggling since June 16 to figure out how to report upon the discourse about beach nourishment that occurred among certain Town Council members at their workshop meeting that day.

We find it demoralizing when critical thinking and informed research are lacking in important decision-making discussions by elected officials. We expect elected officials to read and understand reports filed by consulting “experts,” to ask searching questions of them—not just to defer to them—and to do their homework in a thorough manner.

If we were to illustrate what we mean by actually quoting Town Council members’ questions and reasoning, we would appear to be picking on people. People might think us harsh and unkind—“mean-spirited” is the word that Councilman Jim Conners used—even though elected officials should be held to high standards and should expect their words and thinking to be scrutinized.

We have consistently opposed municipal government based on cronyism.

That someone on the Town Council actually asked the Charlotte-based financial consultants—who appeared in the meeting via Zoom—the difference between general obligation bonds and special obligation bonds greatly demoralized us.

Starting with its first presentation to the Town Council on Feb. 26, 2019, the father-son financial team of DAC Associates has consistently promoted special obligation bonds and discouraged or ignored general obligation bonds, which could be used and likely would cost the Town less in interest.

I distinctly recall asking the Town Council in public comments last fall why it wasn’t looking at general obligation bonds as a means of financing a nourishment project and being told by former Town Councilman Chris Nason, in a rare personal response, that he didn’t know.

Until June 16, the new Town Council has steadfastly remained focused on special obligation bonds, to the exclusion of any other means of financing. Why? Because DAC Associates told them not to bother? That is not a good enough reason.

We will not say any more about our standards and our frustrations. Instead, we will conclude simply with the observation that the Town Council unanimously approved “pursuing” beach nourishment on June 16, but left open many questions about how to do that, including the means of financing a project.

We would like to give Mr. Ogburn time to settle into his job and begin to assert his leadership. We hope he will provide the critical thinking and informed research that should accompany any beach-nourishment project in Southern Shores.

He certainly has experience with beach nourishment: Nags Head has done two projects in the past nine years.

We would like to feel that our Town government is handling this enormous and expensive undertaking with knowledge and foresight.

The next Town Council meeting will be Tuesday, July 7, at 5:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center. We will post details about the agenda and participation in the meeting when they are available.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/29/20

 

Fourteen more people—most of them young locals—have tested positive in Dare County for COVID-19, according to an update this evening on the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard.

Of the 13 Dare County residents among the 14 new cases, one is hospitalized, the dashboard reports. The other 12 are in home isolation. The sole non-resident has transferred to isolation in his/her home county.

Eight of the 14 new cases are female, and six are male.

Today’s case report is a new single-day record for cases reported in Dare County, the previous high being nine cases, which has been set twice, most recently last Thursday.

Ninety-three people—56 residents and 37 non-residents—have now tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County since March. Forty-eight are males, and 45 are females.

The age breakdown of the 14 new COVID-19 cases is:

*Two are 17-years-old. The DCDHHS dashboard reports that 11 of the 93 cases, or about 12 percent, are 17-year-olds.

*Seven are between the ages of 18 and 24, bringing the case total in this age group to 23, or about 25 percent.

*Four are between the ages of 25 and 49, increasing the age-group case total to 28, or about 30 percent.

*One is between the ages of 50 and 64, increasing this age-group case total to 22, or about 24 percent.

The last time a person age 65 or older tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County was June 14, two weeks ago.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/28/20

 

Two more Dare County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to today’s Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard, bringing the local case total to 79.

Forty-three of the confirmed COVID-19 cases are residents, and 36 are non-residents.

The two people who tested positive today for the virus are both women between the ages of 25 and 49 who are now in home isolation.

Statewide, COVID-19 metrics today continued to show a high single-day case total (1,719, the third-highest single-day total), a high number of hospitalizations (888), and a positive-test rate approaching 10 percent (9.3 percent), according to the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard.

Fifteen more people died as a result of a COVID-19 infection during the latest 24-hour reporting period, bringing the number of fatalities in North Carolina to 1,318.

The Beacon, 6/27/20

The intersection at U.S. Hwy. 158-east and South Dogwood Trail/Woods Road is flowing freely this weekend, without a left-turn prohibition blocking entry into the Southern Shores residential area.

At each left-turn cycle, we counted seven to eight vehicles getting through–thus accounting for the current staggering of traffic.

Traffic on Hwy. 158-east through the intersection was moving well at noontime.

The Beacon, 6/27/20

 

Good morning, all.

Judging by traffic conditions of the past two hours, today is going to be a tough day on the Southern Shores residential roads.

I am not going to monitor the traffic today on Hickory Trail and East Dogwood Trail, as I often do, because I anticipate dedicating next weekend—when we have a no-left-turn weekend in effect—to traffic surveillance and reporting.

If today’s traffic becomes what I termed hideous and despicable two weeks ago, I probably will feel compelled to write something. But, generally speaking, I’m going to leave comments to others who would like to report on conditions they’re experiencing—as well as to commiserate with others in town.

Please feel free to comment on the Beacon blog and the Facebook page and to send photographs of traffic conditions near you. Please send your photos to me, with a note about the time they were taken and the exact location, at ssbeaconeditor@gmail.com.

Thank you. I wish you a safe and stress-free Saturday.

Ann, 2/27/20

Dare County is “experiencing community-wide spread of the COVID-19 virus,” the Dept. of Health and Human Services reports today in an online update.

The DCDHHS urges people to “maintain social distancing, wear your mask, and wash your hands often” in order to have a “direct impact” on the spread of COVID-19—which it describes as being “from the northern end of the county to the southern end of the county” and including the Dare County mainland.

“YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS!” the update states in all-capital letters.

As of 3 p.m. today, 77 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County, 41 of whom are residents and 36 of whom are non-residents.

Since DCDHHS’s last update on Tuesday, 17 new positive cases have been diagnosed: Twelve are residents, and five are non-residents.

Today’s update also clarifies that Dare County’s face-covering requirement, which took effect last Sunday at 9 a.m., is “now aligned” with Governor Roy Cooper’s statewide face-covering requirement, which takes effect at 5 p.m. today.

We believe that the Governor’s face-covering requirement, imposed in Executive Order 147–which also extends Phase Two of North Carolina’s reopening for three weeks–is weaker than Dare County’s because it has the potential to be less rigorously enforced.

Unlike the Dare County face-covering mandate, the Executive Order does not impose a criminal penalty on individuals who violate the state face-covering requirement.

Instead, EO 147 provides that police may cite operators of retail businesses, restaurants, personal care, grooming, and tattoo businesses, child care facilities, and other specific “businesses” or “organizations” enumerated in the order for failing to enforce the face-covering requirement by ensuring that their customers and workers comply with it.

The Executive Order also authorizes law enforcement to use state trespassing laws and any other laws that a worker, customer, or patron may violate if he/she refuses to wear a face covering for a reason that is not listed among the EO’s exceptions and “enters the premises or refuses to leave the premises.” (For more about masks, see below.)

[6/27/20 UPDATE: Bob Woodard, who is the chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners and the Dare County Control Group, speaks in a You Tube videotaped message posted yesterday afternoon about the community-wide spread of COVID-19 in Dare County and the Control Group’s decision to agree to a preemption of the State’s face-covering requirement over the county’s similar mandate.

[Much of what Mr. Woodard says is identical to the language of the DCDHHS update bulletin, upon which The Beacon based this report.

[You may see Mr. Woodard’s message at https://www.darenc.com/Home/Components/News/News/6388/1483 or access it at youtube.com/DareCounty.]

COMMUNITY SPREAD, RISE IN POSITIVE TESTS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

Over the past week, Dare County has “seen a growing number of individuals who have tested positive but do not know where they acquired the virus,” the DCDHHS explains in its update.

A “growing number of positive cases,” it says, are among teens and young adults who “have experienced only mild to moderate symptoms.”

The DCDHHS warns that the “greater concern” of the case increase in the younger age groups—greater than the health risks to them of their infections—is the “likelihood” that infected persons will spread it to others, “including those who are at risk of developing severe complications from the virus.”

Of the 17 new cases, two are 17-year-olds; four are between the ages of 18 and 24; seven are between the ages of 25 and 49; and four are between 50 and 64. None is age 65 or older.

Twelve are males, and five are females.

Two cases reported on the DCDHHS dashboard today are included in the 17-case count. They are a man and a woman between the ages of 25 and 49, one of whom is a resident, and the other of whom is not.

The Dare resident is in home isolation locally, and the non-resident has transferred to isolation in his/her home county.

The dashboard also indicates that one of the non-residents who previously tested positive for COVID-19 and was isolating in Dare County has transferred to his/her home county.

A BREAKDOWN OF THE 17 LATEST CASES

The DCDHHS update breaks down the 17 cases as follows:

Of the 12 residents:

*Three are “close acquaintances,” of whom two are mildly symptomatic and one is asymptomatic. “All three acquired the virus through direct contact . . . with an individual whose positive result was reported” on June 22, the update says.

None of the other nine residents have any relationship to each other, according to the DCDHHS. Of these nine, the Department says:

*Seven are symptomatic and acquired the virus through community spread.

*One is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact.

*One is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by community spread.

Of the five non-residents, the DCDHHS says, none is connected to any other. Their case breakdown is:

*Two are symptomatic and most likely acquired the virus through community spread outside of Dare County.

*One is symptomatic and acquired the virus through travel.

*One is symptomatic and acquired the virus through community spread.

*One is symptomatic and acquired the virus through direct contact with an individual whose positive test was reported on June 18.

The DCDHHS has done contact tracing in all 17 cases and has notified and directed to quarantine the direct contacts it has identified. According to the update, the DCDHHS calls on these people to verify their compliance with the quarantine order and can take “legal action” against anyone who violates quarantine and isolation orders.

APPOINTMENTS STILL AVAILABLE FOR COVID-19 DIAGNOSTIC TESTS

 Appointments still remain for COVID-19 diagnostic drive-thru testing appointments on June 30, starting at 10 a.m., at the Dare County Parks & Recreation facility, 602 Mustian St., in Kill Devil Hills. All antibody testing appointments have been booked.

DCDHHS reports that 438 appointments have been made for this antibody and diagnostic testing event, which the county is hosting in partnership with Mako Medical Laboratories of Raleigh. Test results will be available within 72 hours.

If you would like to make an appointment for a drive-thru COVID-19 diagnostic test (a nasal swab), you may call (252) 475-5008 on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. For more information, see www.darenc.com/covidtesting.

A LAST WORD, FOR NOW, ON FACE COVERINGS

Yesterday we promised that we would look closer today at the Governor’s new executive order–in particular, at the face-covering requirement–but we find that we have run out of COVID-19 steam for the week and must leave our commentary here for now.

We simply have not had the time to analyze the statewide face-covering requirement beyond what we have said today about its means of enforcement, which we have questioned.

Here is the Executive Order: https://files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/EO147-Phase-2-Extension.pdf

The EO specifies that “all North Carolinians will be on the honor system about whether or not there is a reason why they cannot wear a Face Covering.

“Everyone in this state is asked to tell the truth,” it says, “and—if they are healthy and able to wear a mask—to wear a Face Covering so that they do not put other people at risk of serious illness and death.”

Governor Cooper would rather persuade people to be in compliance with the directive than pressure them to be with the threat of a criminal penalty.

The EO provides that businesses and organizations are entitled to rely on their customers’ or patrons’ representations about whether or not they are excepted from the face-covering requirement.

The EO also gives businesses the option of offering curbside service, providing home delivery, or using some other “reasonable measure” to deliver its goods or services to a customer who states that a face-covering exception applies.

You will find FAQs about the new Executive Order here: https://files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/EO-147-FAQ.pdf

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/26/20

In the blink of an eye after we posted our last local COVID-19 case update, Dare County reported six more positive test results—all of them of men, who are widely ranging in age. The previous three cases were also men of different generations.

Father’s Day was June 21. Could these cases have anything to do with a Father’s Day gathering?

Four of the men who tested positive are residents, and two are non-residents, according to the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard.

The total COVID-19 case count for Dare County is now 75. If any other cases are added today, a single-day case reporting record will be set. Today’s nine cases match the single-day record set on Sunday.

The age breakdown of the six new cases is as follows:

One is 17

Two are between ages 18 and 24

Two are between ages 25 and 49

One is between ages 50 and 64

Five of the six men are in isolation in Dare County, including one non-resident. The other non-resident has transferred to isolation in his home county.

We will report on any new cases that appear this evening on the dashboard at the end of the night.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/25/20