Wilmington-area coronavirus updates for Wednesday, March 18

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This story will be updated throughout Wednesday with more local and statewide news as it happens.

UPDATED: 8:30 p.m. - North Topsail Beach declares state of emergency

The mayor of North Topsail Beach declared a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a release from the town’s website, mayor Dan Tuman’s declaration took effect on March 17th at 5 p.m. and will remain in effect until modified or rescinded.

While there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in North Topsail Beach, the Board of Aldermen considers proactive measures such as this declaration essential to address this public health emergency.

It went on to list answers to frequently asked questions, such as if the town is closed to visitors, beaches closed to the public (no to each question), plans to close Topsail Island similar to Dare County (no plans) and more.

4:30 p.m. - New Hanover resident tests positive

WILMINGTON — A New Hanover County resident with coronavirus symptoms has become the county’s first presumptive positive case of COVID-19.

A coronavirus test was conducted during the resident’s doctor visit, and a presumptive positive result of COVID-19 was returned Wednesday, according to county officials.

Isolation protocols were implemented immediately after the visit and the patient is said to be doing well and adhering to isolation protocols, according to a release.

"While this is the first case of the novel coronavirus in our community, it is something we’ve been preparing to respond to with our state and local partners," New Hanover County Board of Commissioners chairwoman Julia Olson-Boseman said in a statement. "Our Public Health team is working closely with this individual to monitor their well-being and to make contact with anyone they have had close contact with over the last two weeks to mitigate any potential spread of the virus."

At a county press conference Olson-Boseman said the case is believed to have resulted from international travel. The patient was tested on March 16, after returning through Wilmington International Airport a day earlier.

She added the county will not declare a state of emergency, but will continue to coordinate with state and local agencies and health partners.

"This is something New Hanover County has been preparing to respond to with our state and local partners for several weeks," said Olson-Boseman at the conference, adding public health officials would begin tracing the infection soon. "There are measures that have already been implemented in our community now that we have a presumptive positive case."

Olson-Boseman said the county will begin deploying public health officials to pre-screened residents’ homes if they are uninsured on Friday.

Personal Health Services spokesperson Carla Turner outlined the process for suspected uninsured patients.

"We will ask them a series of questions and determine if we need to send them to our community health team, who will contact them, fully vet them, ask them more specific questions, and if they are determined to be appropriate for testing, we will have our contact team" come out, she said.

County Public Preparedness Coordinator Lisa Brown said that individuals who came in close contact with the patient, defined by Centers for Disease Control as within 6 feet for 10 minutes, will be tested by public health officials and told to self-quarantine.

The county advises everyone who is tested for the virus to remain home until they receive the results.

11 a.m. - Brunswick testing, but with few results

Brunswick County officials revealed that of the 76 coronavirus tests conducted in the county, only seven have received results.

Of those tests, the county still only reports one confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus among its population. The resident traveled to Louisiana last week and returned to the region showing symptoms of the virus.

The remaining six results all came back negative, according to information released by officials.

As of Wednesday morning, the state’s Department of Health and Human Human Services officially reported 63 confirmed cases in the state. However, by the afternoon, The News & Observer reported the number had increased to 74 due to a number of new cases, including the first cases in counties like Buncombe and Hoke.

The Raleigh-based newspaper also reported the spike from 40 cases on Tuesday can be traced, in part, to people returning from a Duke University overseas trip that resulted in 15 confirmed cases.

Health officials have administered 1,850 tests in North Carolina, and thousands more have been sent to labs across the state for analysis. With so many patients still awaiting results, Cooper said Tuesday the state’s case total is almost certain to rise.

"It is likely we already have community spread," he said.

10 a.m. - Take-out and delivery all day

It was a take-out world across North Carolina on Wednesday morning as local restaurants began their first full day of takeaway service after Gov. Roy Cooper banned in-person dining.

The governor made the announcement Tuesday that all restaurants and bars would be required to shutter dine-in service and switch to only take-out or delivery models for the foreseeable future as the state continues to try to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The closures weren’t limited to restaurants and bars. All area movie theaters were closed Tuesday, as were the New Hanover County public libraries and the Cape Fear Museum.

County parks will remain open for families to visit for the time being, but officials ask that no groups of 10 or more gather together.

In North Carolina, the governor has also loosened restrictions on applying for unemployment benefits to get ahead of what many believed will be a heightened number of jobs lost.

"The new reality is that people will be losing jobs and businesses have already lost customers," he said Tuesday during a press conference.

Among the actions he took was to waive the one-week waiting period to apply for unemployment benefits; remove the requirement that someone must look for a job during the waiting period; authorize employees who lose jobs or see their hours reduced to apply for unemployment benefits; authorize applicants to apply for benefits remotely, online or by phone; and ensure that employers will not be held responsible for benefits paid in response to COVID-19 claims.

Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com.

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