Craven County has 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of noon Saturday, April 4, 2020. One new case was confirmed on Saturday.
Out of the 14 confirmed positive cases, six have been related to out-of-state travel, six are from community transmission, and two are a direct contact with a previously confirmed positive.
Five have recovered and are out of isolation. The recovered cases completed the necessary isolation requirement and have been free of COVID-19 symptoms for at least 72 hours. There have been no COVID-19-related deaths in Craven County.
|
Total Confirmed Cases Craven County |
Active Cases Craven County |
Recovered Cases Craven County |
NC Cases |
NC Deaths |
|
14 |
9 |
5 |
2,402 |
24 |
The Craven County Health Department works with state, commercial, and private labs to track the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Craven County. Health care providers determine which lab they send their COVID-19 tests to. There are multiple hospital and commercial labs that conduct COVID-19 tests. These labs manage their own supplies and operate independently from the Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health.
Craven County will continue to track and post the number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases; however, it is important to recognize there are many people with COVID-19 who will not be included in daily counts of laboratory-confirmed cases, including:
The number of laboratory-confirmed cases will increasingly provide a limited picture of the spread of infections in Craven County as COVID-19 becomes more widespread and the number of infected people who are not included in the daily counts of laboratory-confirmed cases increases.
Posted in Craven County, Health
Craven County confirmed three new COVID-19 cases as of 1 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020, more than doubling the number of cases since March 31.
There are now 13 cases of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Craven County.
Of those cases, four have recovered, are doing well, and are out of isolation. The recovered cases completed the necessary isolation requirement and have been free of COVID-19 symptoms for at least 72 hours.
Six of the 13 cases have been related to out-of-state travel, two are from community transmission, two are a direct contact with a previously confirmed positive cases, and were from unknown sources as of Friday.
|
Total Confirmed Cases Craven County |
Active Cases Craven County |
Recovered Cases Craven County |
NC Cases |
NC Deaths |
|
13 |
9 |
4 |
2,093 |
19 |
When using the NCDHHS COVID-19 site to stay up to date, keep in mind that county case numbers may change once residency is verified. Therefore, the total number on the county map may differ from the number of NC Cases.
The Craven County Health Department works with state, commercial, and private labs to track the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Craven County. Health care providers determine which lab they send their COVID-19 tests to. There are multiple hospital and commercial labs that conduct COVID-19 tests. These labs manage their own supplies and operate independently from the Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health.
Craven County will continue to track and post the number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases; however, it is important to recognize there are many people with COVID-19 who will not be included in daily counts of laboratory-confirmed cases, including:
The number of laboratory-confirmed cases will increasingly provide a limited picture of the spread of infections in Craven County as COVID-19 becomes more widespread and the number of infected people who are not included in the daily counts of laboratory-confirmed cases increases.
Posted in Craven County, Health
Craven County issued a Proclamation prohibiting short term rentals in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to be effective at noon on Sunday, April 5, 2020.
This Proclamation will prohibit the rental of a hotel room, motel room, rental housing unit, condominium, timeshare, apartment, RV campsite, primitive campsite, or similar accommodation for a term of less than 45 consecutive days starting at 12:00 p.m. on April 5, 2020 until this Proclamation is rescinded.
Individuals fleeing areas significantly impacted by the pandemic are increasing the risk of infections to others which could accelerate the spread of the pandemic. Craven County is currently experiencing an influx of individuals from other areas.
This Proclamation applies to all unincorporated areas of Craven County and within the jurisdictions of the Town of Trent Woods, the Town of Bridgeton, the Town of Dover and the Town of Cove City.
This proclamation does not apply to short term rentals within the City of New Bern, the City of Havelock or the Town of River Bend.
As the COVID-19 pandemic impacts other parts of North Carolina and the United States, individuals are fleeing the most significantly impacted areas and are relocating to rural locations throughout the United States.
Many of these individuals are lodging in facilities that may impede appropriate social distancing because of the nature of these facilities having common areas, lobbies, hallways, and shared sanitary facilities.
Exempted from this Proclamation are:
• Individuals performing essential businesses and operations as defined in the March 27, 2020 Executive Order No. 121 issued by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
• Individuals who were residing in accommodations prohibited by this Proclamation as of March 1, 2020;
• Victims of domestic violence;
• Individuals who are transitioning from one permanent place of residence within Craven County to another permanent place of residence within Craven County, or who are unable to occupy their permanent place of residence in Craven County due to casualty loss, repairs, or other similar temporary situations impacting the habitability of a permanent place of residence located in Craven County;
• Employees of the State of North Carolina; and
• Employees of the United States.
Craven County Government COVID-19 updates will appear on the Craven County website at www.cravencountync.gov, on the Craven County Facebook page @cravencounty and the Craven County Twitter account @cravencountync.
Residents are also encouraged to register to receive notifications via the Craven County website and to register to receive emergency notifications via text, email and phone calls through the CodeRed Emergency Notification System.
For more information on COVID-19, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health website at https://ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus
Posted in Craven County, Health, New Bern
Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point confirmed the first positive COVID-19 test result on Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
The patient was quarantined at home after returning from travel outside of the state, became symptomatic and was tested at the clinic. The individual has been at home in isolation since being tested. NHCCP officials determined that the transmission is travel related.
“MCAS Cherry Point and NHCCP are committed to protecting the health of our community,” Cherry Point command said in a news release. “We will continue to monitor the situation and coordinate with federal, state and local health agencies and to preserve the wellness of our service members, civilian employees and families.”
Military personnel who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 such as a cough, fever and shortness of breath or have been exposed to the virus should remain home and contact their health care professional for guidance or call the Nurse Advice Hotline 800-TRICARE (1-800-874-2273 option 1).
MCAS Cherry Point remains in HPCON-C. Personnel are advised to continue practicing strict hygiene and social distancing already implemented in previous health protection conditions.
Posted in Craven County, Health, Marines
Three new cases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Craven County residents. This brings the total positive case count to 10 in Craven County.
Of the 10 cases, five have been related to out of state travel, two are from community transmission, and two are a direct contact with a previously confirmed positive.
Craven County Health Department Communicable Disease staff has yet to determine where the third individual contracted COVID-19.
The new individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 are adults. Two of the individuals were tested at CarolinaEast Medical Center for COVID-19 on March 31, 2020. The third individual was tested at CarolinaEast Medical Center for COVID-19 on March 30, 2020.
All tests were sent to the North Carolina State Lab of Public Health. These confirmed cases were reported to the Craven County Health Department on Thursday, April 2, 2020 by state health officials and CarolinaEast Medical Center.
Craven County public health officials have been in contact with each individual since notified of the positive test results. All three individuals are hospitalized.
Craven County Health Department’s Communicable Disease staff is working to conduct contact tracing to make sure everyone who came into close contact with these individuals are quarantined.
Close contact is anyone who was within six feet of the individual for 10 minutes or more.
While Craven County has had 10 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, four of those individuals have recovered, are doing well, and are out of isolation.
Residents who feel they are symptomatic should stay home and self-isolate. Most people who get COVID-19 will recover without needing medical care. New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you stay home if you have mild symptoms such as fever and cough without shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
Anyone who is symptomatic should not just present at a medical provider’s office without calling ahead first. There are other upper respiratory illnesses present locally, the seasonal flu and it is allergy season which can also produce similar symptoms to COVID-19.
Craven County Health Director Scott Harrelson said, “We all need to take this seriously but we do not need to live in fear. Remember 80% of the people who get COVID-19 will experience mild symptoms.
“Our health department team will continue to perform contact tracing to make sure close contacts of infected individuals are going into quarantine for 14 days. This will not totally stop the spread of the virus but it will slow the spread of the virus down.
“Social distancing measures are also helping to slow the spread. We will see an increase in the number of cases through the weeks to come and it may not seem like we are slowing the spread but rest assured, your efforts are helping the situation greatly and know that we would experience many more cases if we were not taking these precautions.”
Craven County Government COVID-19 updates will appear on the Craven County website at www.cravencountync.gov, on the Craven County Facebook page @cravencounty and the Craven County Twitter account @cravencountync. Residents are also encouraged to register to receive notifications via the Craven County website and to register to receive emergency notifications via text, email and phone calls through the CodeRed Emergency Notification System.
For more information on COVID-19, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health website at https://ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus.
Posted in CarolinaEast, Community, Craven County
The Craven County Health Department announced a seventh case of COVID-19.
“As of 1:55 pm, April 1, 2020, Craven County has one new confirmed COVID-19 case to report,” the Health Department announced.
While Craven County has had seven confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, four of those individuals have recovered, are doing well, and are out of isolation.
The recovered cases completed the necessary isolation requirement and have been free of COVID-19 symptoms for at least 72 hours.
Of the seven cases, five have been related to out of state travel and two are from community transmission.
“When using the NCDHHS COVID-19 site to stay up to date, please keep in mind that county case numbers may change once residence is verified,” the Health Department announced. The total number on the county map may differ from the number of NC Cases.
Posted in Craven County, Health
How prepared is CarolinaEast based on the possibility of the virus striking hard in our area?
We are as prepared as we can be. We have created multiple additional care areas outfitted with isolation rooms, we have inventoried ventilators and all personal protective equipment, and we are cross training staff, among other things. Of course preventive measures such as visitor restrictions, stopping elective surgeries to conserve PPE, the screening of everyone entering the building for symptoms, etc.
Do Ray Leggett (president and CEO of CarolinaEast) or the Contract Company that staffs the ER have any comment or insights they wish to share?
Just that our front line staff have been incredible in their dedication to our organization and their profession.
Do they have PPE, ventilators, appropriate staffing, policies, and procedures, etc. in place?
Yes to all of these, absolutely.
How many ventilators do you have?
The types of ventilators vary and I do not have exact numbers, but we have the capacity to ventilate twice as many patients as we typically would.
We have more ventilators than we typically have ICU rooms. We do not want to publish our specific numbers because it is an ever-changing number as we are identifying as many ways as possible to meet the needs of our patients before they arise.
— Brandy Popp, Manager, Public Relations and Outreach, CarolinaEast Health System
Posted in CarolinaEast, Craven County, Health
Number of COVID-19 cases in Craven County. The seventh case, reported by CarolinaEast Medical Center on Tuesday, has not been confirmed by state or county health agencies.
It’s news when every new COVID-19 case is added to the list in Craven County.
It’s also news when local businesses are forced to close for several days in order to undergo deep cleaning following news that an employee or customer has tested positive.
Fast forward to next week. News articles and TV segments won’t be about single cases or businesses, but lists of new cases and lists of businesses shutting down.
Add to that will be the daily tracker of how well CarolinaEast Medical Center is coping with the pandemic and whether its facilities and staff have reached or exceeded capacity.
This is not hysteria. This is reality.
Just over a month ago, President Trump said “The 15 cases within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero” and “We’re going very substantially down, not up.”
On Tuesday evening, President Trump extended his social distancing order from 14 days to a month.
“The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end,” Mr. Trump said.
Modeling predicts somewhere between 80,000 and 200,000 deaths even with preventative measures.
Without taking measures? The death toll would soar to between 1 million and 2.5 million.
Mr. Trump said he would consider it a success if the death toll in the United States from COVID-19 is kept at 100,000.
This is not hysteria.
Stay at home, keep your distance, and wash your hands.
If you can’t stay at home (the ones who are the heroes in our society during this pandemic), then wash your hands, keep your distance, and if you feel sick, stay home.
If you are an employer, protect your workers and if you can, shut down temporarily.
Posted in Craven County, Health
Though far fewer in numbers than the nation, Craven County’s COVID-19 growth rate (left) is starting to resemble the same trajectory as the nation’s rate (inset, right).
With news of two more cases bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in Craven County to six, the growth rate here is starting to resemble the same trajectory that is characteristic of novel coronavirus outbreaks around the world.
The first four cases in Craven County could be explained as being contracted from outside the community. However, the latest two cases seem to have been contracted from within Craven County. That means the virus is out in the community and could be wide-spread.
It takes several days for symptoms to emerge after contracting COVID-19, during which time the individual is contagious. Symptoms vary widely, from hardly any to life-threatening and deadly.
The purpose of Governor Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order, which took effect at 5 p.m. Monday, is to reduce the chances of people contracting the virus.
However, the order includes a large number of exceptions, ranging from grocery stores and pharmacies, to ABC stores.
On Tuesday morning in New Bern, downtown looked like a ghost town. But along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, traffic was moderate and parking lots, particularly at Walmart, were nearly full.
That indicates a large number of people are potentially exposed to the virus.
Unless the growth trajectory is flattened — using methods like the stay-at-home order — local medical capacity will be quickly overwhelmed.
Federal authorities estimate that COVID-19 will claim at least 100,000 lives across the nation. Stay-at-home loses its effectiveness as more people ignore the order.
Governor Cooper indicated that his executive order applies throughout the state. No county or community can allow relaxed versions of the order. However, counties and communities can issue orders with stricter provisions. That would be up to local leadership.
The situation changes by the hour, and Governor Cooper may decide to strengthen his stay-at-home order. Meanwhile, local leaders are free to issue their own orders strengthening efforts to reduce or prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Posted in Community, Craven County, Health
The fifth and sixth cases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Craven County, and constitute Craven County’s first confirmed cases of community transmission.
Community transmission means there is spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. Both cases are adults who were tested at private physician offices in Craven County.
The tests were sent to LabCorp for testing. These confirmed cases were reported to the Craven County Health Department on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, by state health officials.
The individuals from each case have been in isolation since symptom onset and are recovering at home. Due to patient confidentiality, no additional details about these individuals or where they were tested can be provided.
Craven County public health officials have been in contact with both individuals since notified of the positive test results this morning. These cases are not related, nor are they related to any previous positive cases or to travel.
Craven County Health Department’s Communicable Disease staff is working to conduct contact tracing to make sure everyone who came into close contact with these individuals is quarantined. Close contact is anyone who was within six feet of the individual for 10 minutes or more. While Craven County has had six confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, four of those individuals have recovered, are doing well, and are out of isolation. Only one positive case resulted from the 25 tests completed at the drive-up test site at the Craven County Health Department held March 20, 23 and 25, 2020.
“The fact that we have confirmed community transmission does not change what we should be doing. It does reinforce the need to keep up the social distancing measures, hand washing and six feet of separation when we are out doing essential functions,” stated Scott Harrelson, Craven County Health Director.
Residents who feel they are symptomatic and in need of testing need to call ahead to their primary care physician to receive instructions for how to proceed. Anyone who is symptomatic should not just present at a medical provider’s office without calling ahead first.
Craven County Government COVID-19 updates will appear on the Craven County website at www.cravencountync.gov, on the Craven County Facebook page @cravencounty and the Craven County Twitter account @cravencountync. Residents are also encouraged to register to receive notifications via the Craven County website and to register to receive emergency notifications via text, email and phone calls through the CodeRed Emergency Notification System.
For more information on COVID-19, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health website at https://ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus.
Posted in Community, Craven County, Health, New Bern
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