As Covid-19 numbers drop, New Hanover County to discuss face coverings mandate

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — For the first time since July, the positivity rate of Covid-19 cases in New Hanover County has fallen below five percent.

Given these improvements, at this week’s Health and Human Services Board meeting, the board voted to schedule a special meeting to consider action on their local health rule that requires face coverings in all indoor public places within New Hanover County.

The meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 12 at 8 a.m.

The board will hear public comments and review community-wide COVID-19 data in their consideration of action on the rule, which may lead to a vote to repeal the rule or have it remain in place.

The health rule requiring face coverings indoors has been a temporary measure that the Health and Human Service Board put in place in August as COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations, and percent positivity rates were spiking.

“The board made a commitment to revisit the health rule when we got to a five percent positivity rate in the county and we have reached that mark, so it is reasonable for us to consider this soon and determine how we move forward,” said Health and Human Service Board Chair LeShonda Wallace. “We have to ensure our COVID-19 metrics are remaining steady and hopefully decreasing in case rates and percent positivity over several weeks. We have only recently reached some of those goals, so we want to analyze that in the coming weeks, and ensure this positive data is sustainable. We will discuss this as a board at our special meeting and hear from the public as well, to determine how we move forward.”

The special meeting will be held in the multipurpose room of the Health and Human Services building, located at 1650 Greenfield Street in Wilmington.

The Health and Human Services Board will be considering numerous metrics, including having a sustained rate of 100 or fewer new cases of COVID-19 per day, a sustained percent positivity rate of 5 percent or lower, and reduced hospitalizations to ensure there is no burden on our local healthcare system.

As of October 20, 2021, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, there is an average of around 32 new cases per day over the past 14-days; and the percent positivity rate for the past 14 days is 4.8 percent, which continues a downward trend from the five percent reported last week and 6.1 percent for the week prior.

In addition, according to NHRMC, there is an average of 25 patients hospitalized for COVID, which is a decrease from 32 last week.

“We’re certainly pleased to see our COVID-related metrics continuing to decline in a positive direction,” said Health and Human Services Director Donna Fayko. “The commitment our community has taken in using preventative measures, like masks, and to get vaccinated are working to slow the spread of COVID-19 in New Hanover County. We encourage everyone to remain diligent and help these metrics continue to fall.”