Craven County has 2,079 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of 12:00 p.m. on October 19, 2020. Of the newest cases, 36 were confirmed on October 16, 2020, 13 on October 17, 2020, 10 on October 18, 2020, and 11 today. Out of the 2,079 confirmed positive cases, 1,760 of those individuals have recovered, are doing well, and are out of isolation. The recovered cases completed the necessary isolation requirement and have been free of COVID-19 symptoms for at least 24 hours. Of the 2,079 cases, 24 have been related to out of state travel, 400 are from community transmission, 1,375 are a direct contact with a previously confirmed positive case, 148 are still being investigated, and 132 are unknown. There have been 55 deaths related to COVID-19. Twenty-two of the active COVID-19 cases are currently hospitalized.  

Five additional Craven County residents have died from complications related to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The fifty-first Craven County resident died on October 16, 2020. The individual was tested for COVID-19 on September 24, 2020 and resulted positive the same day. The fifty-second Craven County resident died on October 16, 2020. The individual was tested for COVID-19 on September 23, 2020 and resulted positive on September 24, 2020. The fifty-third Craven County resident died on October 16, 2020. The individual was tested for COVID-19 on September 30, 2020 and resulted positive on October 1, 2020. The fifty-fourth Craven County resident died on October 16, 2020. The individual was tested for COVID-19 on October 2, 2020 and resulted positive on October 4, 2020.  The fifty-fifth Craven County resident died on October 19, 2020. The individual was tested for COVID-19 on October 9, 2020 and resulted positive on October 12, 2020. All five deaths were reported to the Craven County Health Department on October 19, 2020. Each individual had underlying health conditions. To protect the privacy of each individual’s family, no further information about the individuals will be released.  

Craven County citizens are encouraged to use reputable sources of information to learn more about COVID-19 cases in Craven County and North Carolina.  Reputable sources of information include the Craven County Health Department and NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) websites. 

The Craven County Health Department works with state, commercial, and private labs to track the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Craven County. Health care providers determine which lab they send their COVID-19 tests to.

Craven County will continue to track and post the number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases; however, it is important to recognize there are many people with COVID-19 who will not be included in daily counts of laboratory-confirmed cases, including: 

• People who had minimal or no symptoms and were not tested.
• People who had symptoms but did not seek medical care.
• People who sought medical care but were not tested.
• People with COVID-19 in whom the virus was not detected by testing. 

The number of laboratory-confirmed cases will increasingly provide a limited picture of the spread of infections in Craven County as COVID-19 becomes more widespread and the number of infected people who are not included in the daily counts of laboratory-confirmed cases increases.