ROCKINGHAM — As of 2 p.m. Monday, there are still no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richmond County.
Health and Human Services Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell reiterated that point in an updated press release Monday afternoon, following Gov. Roy Cooper’s Press Conference.
Earlier Monday, Jarrell issued a statement, saying that the online map from the state DHHS erroneously colored in Richmond County as having a positive case.
But Jarrell said that the case number of the individual matches that of a Montgomery County resident.
The state has yet to make the correction.
It is unknown at this time if Montgomery now has two cases, or if the map was wrongly colored from a case announced on Saturday.
Cases are based on residency.
While state officials officially labeled a case for neighboring Scotland County, that individual became ill, was tested and is being quarantined out of state. The first case in Durham County was similar to that.
North Carolina isn’t the only state to make a residency mistake.
Officials in South Carolina announced Sunday that a case was mistakenly attributed to Marlboro County.
As of a Sunday press release, there were 195 cases in 33 South Carolina counties, but none in neighboring Marlboro or Chesterfield counties.
In North Carolina, DHHS numbers show 297 confirmed cases across the state with new cases in Alamance, Carteret, Buncombe, Cherokee, Cumberland, Henderson, Franklin, Granville, Nash, Orange, Randolph and Vance counties.
There have been 8,438 tests performed by the N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health and reporting hospital and commercial laboratories, according to DHHS.
Jarrell said that 98 individuals have been tested for COVID 19 in Richmond County and so far 32 test results have been returned and all results received have been negative.
Health and Human Service Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said Monday that there were currently 11 COVID-19 patients hospitalized.
Officials in New Hanover County closed its beaches on Saturday and Dare County is closed off to all non-residents, excluding those who work in the county.
Despite not having any cases, one mountain county is making itself off limits.
Graham County Commissioners on March 20 declared a state of emergency and enacted a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., except for emergency and public safety personnel and persons traveling to and from work in and out of the county, according to a Facebook post.
All accommodations, including hotels and campgrounds, were to be closed to visitors — with work-related exemptions — by noon Monday. County officials also plan to close off roads, including the Cherohala Skyway, by Friday.
Danny Wimmer Presents also announced on Monday that it would be canceling its Epicenter, Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple music festivals because of government mandates.
“We respect these directives and recognize they are in the best interest of the greater good, as well as the health and safety of our fans, musicians, partners, and staff,” reads a press release. “Before accepting this fate, we worked really hard to try to reschedule the festivals. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts, venue availabilities and a number of other factors out of our control made postponing impossible. Make no mistake, each of these festivals will return in May 2021 bigger and stronger than ever!”
Organizers say full refunds will be available. Passholders also have the option of transferring to another DWP festival or applying their payments toward next year’s festivals.
