Brunswick County sees record number of new cases as holidays approach

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — Brunswick County Health Services identified 669 new cases of COVID-19 in the first two weeks of December, marking the second two-week period in a row to significantly break the record of new identifications in the county.

Health experts say four more residents have also died with deaths related to the virus in the past week, bringing the total number of fatalities among Brunswick County residents to 70. Three of the people were aged 65 or older and one was in the 50-64 years age range.

“We are seeing our highest numbers of active cases since the pandemic began only three weeks after Thanksgiving,” Health Services Director Cris Harrelson said. “Holiday and family gatherings, workplace settings, and faith-based gatherings continue to make up the bulk of exposures. With one week until Christmas, it is imperative that people remain home or take precautions seriously—especially face coverings or avoiding travel and gatherings if they are at a high risk for severe illness.”

The best way to reduce your risk of getting COVID-19 is to avoid traveling and/or gathering with family or others you do not live with for the holidays, according to the Brunswick County health department. If you choose to attend or host a holiday gathering, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk for COVID-19—including everyone practicing the Three Ws when together (wear a face covering, wait six feet or more apart, wash hands regularly).

If you plan to travel, health officials say you are strongly encouraged to get tested three or four days before traveling and again three to five days after you travel while quarantining at home for seven days to screen yourself for symptoms. Receiving a negative result does not mean that you do not need to follow other essential mitigation steps like the Three Ws as you could still become symptomatic or exposed to the virus later.

Brunswick County has information about testing, screening sites, and symptoms on its website, including testing sites for both insured and uninsured individuals and sites offering free tests. Individuals trying to get tested before or after holiday travel should select/use this as their reason when requesting the test from a provider: State Health Officials Have Said I Should Get a Test

If you need help finding a location to test, call the Brunswick County Public Health Call Line (available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.) at 910.253.2339 or email coronavirus@brunswickcountync.gov

According to the NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard statistics on testing, about 9.1% of tests conducted in Brunswick County are yielding positive results as of Dec. 18, a slight decrease from the previous week (9.7% on Dec. 11). In North Carolina, about 10.5% of tests are returning positive (10.4% on Dec. 11).

Brunswick County is currently ranked in the Substantial/Orange Tier on the North Carolina COVID-19 County Alert System, the second-highest tier possible. More than 80% of North Carolina counties are either in the Critical/Red tier or Orange/Substantial tier.

Brunswick County Case Data

As of Dec. 18, there are 3,871 positive cases of COVID-19 among county residents (3,040 considered recovered, 751 isolating at 525 different households, 10 hospitalized, 70 deaths) and there are 22 cases among non-residents (17 considered recovered, 3 transferred monitoring to home county, 2 deaths).

To date, 70 residents and two non-residents have passed away with deaths related to the virus. The age range of these individuals (residents and non-residents) were: 65 years or older (64 cases); 50-64 years (4 case); 25-49 years (4 cases).