NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC – New Hanover County began its expanded diagnostic testing for COVID-19, with more than 100 residents scheduled to be tested today at the drive-through testing site. Results of tests are expected in the coming days, and data specific to this effort will be shared on the county’s website during the next four weeks of expanded testing.
Residents who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms can call the New Hanover County Coronavirus Call Center at 910-798-6800 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to be pre-screened by a public health nurse before being referred for a test. County-wide testing is expected to continue through May 22, and additional details about this testing effort can be viewed here.
To date, there have been 81 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Hanover County, and of those 57 people have recovered, 21 are still ill and experiencing symptoms, and there have been three deaths. View demographic data on lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases at Health.NHCgov.com.
New Hanover County’s additional county-wide restrictions expire today at 5 p.m., but residents and businesses will remain under the Governor’s Stay At Home Order that is in place until at least May 8. In addition, the City of Wilmington and Carolina, Kure and Wrightsville beaches have implemented additional restrictions for their municipalities.
“We have stayed ahead of the curve, and I have confidence that residents will continue their personal measures that keep themselves and one another protected from COVID-19,” said New Hanover County Board of Commissioners Chair Julia Olson-Boseman. “I recently announced that I would be letting the county-wide restrictions expire this week, based on the current data from Public Health, NHRMC’s capacity and the hospital system’s metrics that they are actively monitoring, as well as the information we are going to have from the county’s expanded COVID-19 testing program. Now that we have better data and metrics around the virus in our community, I believe that allowing New Hanover County, our residents and businesses, to be in line with the Governor’s Order provides our community with the right amount of mitigation measures. But I have encouraged the mayors of our municipalities to do what they feel is in the best interest of their distinct communities, and they made some of those announcements today.”
Specific information related to the county’s order expiring, as well as other municipal restrictions is below:
For an overview of these restrictions and other frequently asked questions, visit Health.NHCgov.com.
“At this time, our known infection numbers appear manageable within the county, and we hope that continues to be true in the weeks and months to come,” said New Hanover County Public Health Preparedness Coordinator Lisa Brown. “Our expanded testing is already proving to be an important service for our community, with more than 100 people scheduled for testing in the first day. And the data we are able to obtain for this testing will help us better understand if and where community transmission and outbreaks are, by identifying new cases of COVID-19. This data, coupled with other information we have, is important as we begin to reopen businesses and see other activity in our area – so that we can actively monitor the public’s health.”
As mitigation measures begin to lift, the public is encouraged to continue personal protective actions to help keep the rate of COVID-19 low and to slow the spread of the virus:
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As of April 29, there have been 81 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Hanover County. For more information about COVID-19 in New Hanover County, visit Health.NHCgov.com, call our Public Health Coronavirus Call Center at 910-798-6800, and follow the county’s trusted social media pages: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Nextdoor.