Dare County News | Dare County, North Carolina

DCDHHS COVID-19 Update # 134
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
1:00 pm

Dare County COVID-19 Case Update

Both the number of cases confirmed in the new COVID-19 laboratory reported to Dare County DHHS and the ratio of positive tests to total tests increased significantly last week. According to state and region epidemiological reports, Omicron variants make up about 96% of the sequenced samples from our state and region.

The total number of new positive cases reported in Dare County over the past week was 978. Too many positive cases reported in Dare County have prevented contact tracing in all resident cases. All positive resident cases receive phone calls and text messages from the Public Health Department of the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services, provide quarantine and quarantine guidance, and ask individuals to notify their contacts directly about their exposure. .. Contact tracing and support calls are provided to seniors, people with children, and facilities where outbreaks or outbreaks occur (church, child care centers, businesses, etc.). In light of this, many data metrics can no longer be reported accurately (ie, symptomatic / asymptomatic, vaccination status, direct contact).

Currently, there are 391 active COVID-19 cases among residents of Dare County, based on the reported positive cases. There are 11 residents hospitalized for complications from COVID-19. Resident cases are considered active if they are in quarantine for 5 days or if they are reported to be symptomatic for more than 5 days.

Positive cases reported include only those confirmed in the laboratory reported by the healthcare provider, emergency care center, hospital, or state, and include tests performed at local pharmacies. Self-reported and over-the-counter home tests are not counted in the total reported counts, but contact tracing is done for self-reported positive cases.

Dare County remains in the red category of the CDC’s Community Infection Level Map. This indicates a high level of community infection of the virus. All 100 counties in North Carolina are in the red category. Dare County is still a pervasive area of ​​the community, but regardless of vaccination status, all individuals over the age of 5 should wear a mask when indoors in public. If you have a large crowd, you should consider wearing a mask when you go out. Individuals over the age of 5 should be vaccinated with COVID-19 to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death.

Drive-through test is available Monday to Friday from 8am to 2:30 pm

The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services, Outer Banks Hospital and Medical Group, and Mako Medical are partnering to provide a drive-through COVID-19 testing site that is available to anyone in need of a COVID-19 testing. Drive-through tests are available Monday through Friday from 8 am to 2:30 pm at the Dare County Family Recreation Park on 602 Mustian Street in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Patients will not be charged for the test. We collect insurance information for those who have insurance.

Pre-registration is highly recommended to provide the fastest service on the drive-through COVID-19 test site.Individuals can pre-register online https://bit.ly/nc-kdh-18931.. Results will be available from the Mako Medical online portal within 48 hours of the test date.

Dare COVID vaccination

All individuals over the age of 5 are encouraged to receive COVID-19 vaccination. The COVID-19 vaccine is readily available in various locations within the county, including health departments and many regional pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS, Sunshine Family Pharmacy, Island Pharmacy, Bare Drugs, and Beach Pharmacy.

Individuals over the age of 5 should be vaccinated regardless of whether they are already infected with COVID-19. This is because experts do not yet know how long you will be protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19. Even if you have already recovered from COVID-19, you may be re-infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Studies have shown that vaccination strongly enhances the protection of people who have recovered from COVID-19. If you have been treated with COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, you should wait 90 days before vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine. Talk to your doctor if you don’t know what treatment you received or if you have further questions about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Since late December 2020, a total of 27,488 (74%) Dare County residents have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 26,218 (71%) individuals have received the double-dose mRNA series or single-dose or J & J vaccine. I was vaccinated. A total of 12,892 people (34%) have boosted immunity.

COVID-19 Booster Dose Information

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends additional vaccinations for all individuals over the age of 12 to enhance and extend protection against COVID-19.

If you have been vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, you can receive a booster vaccination 5 months after the second vaccination. If you have been vaccinated with the J & J vaccine, you can inoculate the booster 2 months after the injection.

The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services offers the Moderna Booster Vaccine. Below is a breakdown of the places where residents of Dare County can receive first, second, and booster immunity.

Moderna 1st, 2nd, or booster doses
Call your local pharmacy or call the clinical services team at 252.475.5003 (select option # 2 and leave a message when you reach your voicemail).

Initial or additional dose of J & J
Call the pharmacy in your area.

Pfizer 1st, 2nd or booster dose
Call the pharmacy in your area.

For more information or questions regarding COVID-19 vaccine and booster doses, please visit: www.darenc.com.COVID / vaccine

Influenza vaccine and COVID-19

Individuals over 6 months are encouraged to be vaccinated against the flu. You can get your vaccine by contacting our department, your pharmacy, or your local health provider. Our department currently offers influenza vaccines free of charge. Call 252.475.5003, select option # 2, and if you can’t answer the call, leave a voicemail and make a reservation. Vaccination is the best way to reduce the spread of influenza and can reduce the risk of serious illness that can lead to hospitalization and death. Influenza and COVID-19 vaccine can be given at the same visit. The vaccine efficacy of this year’s influenza vaccine is unknown, but the A (H3N2) component has recently been updated and is genetically similar to the currently prevalent A (H3N2) virus.

Key indicators

Each week, we review four key indicators related to disease investigation and monitoring. The metrics are:

Last week, 2,057 COVID-19 diagnostic tests were reported in Dare County. This brings the total number of tests reported since early March last year to 68,712. There were 978 positive cases between January 10th and January 16th. Since the start of testing in March 2020, the proportion of positive tests in Dare County’s overall test has increased in the last 21 weeks. Last week it was 13.55%. The percentage of positive tests for all tests last week increased to 47.54% from the previous week. There is an increasing number of individual syndrome surveillance and emergency treatments presenting symptoms such as COVID to the emergency department. These graphs can be found on the Dare County website. www.darenc.com/covid19..

Communication and information sharing

Dare County DHHS has an established communication schedule for sharing information about COVID-19. Every Tuesday, a written update containing key indicators of COVID-19 from the previous week will be published. Additional updates will be released as needed. All released video and written updates can be found on our website, the DHHS facebook page, the Dare County Twitter page, and the Dare Emergency Management Twitter page. If you would like to receive these updates directly by email, sign up to receive notifications.

This week’s new positive cases will be updated on the dashboard and our website and shared on the DHHS facebook page from Monday to Friday. For the latest information on COVID-19 cases in Dare County, please visit www.darenc.com/covid19. State COVID-19 data is available at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard.

inquiry

We recommend that you visit www.darenc.com/covid19 or the CDC or NC DHHS website for the latest information. If you have specific needs or questions, you can also call the Dare County COVID-19 Call Center, which is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 5:00 at 252-475-5008.