Craven County has 4,432 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of 1:00 p.m. on December 21, 2020. Of the newest cases, 30 were confirmed on December 18, 2020, 29 on December 19, 2020, 118 on December 20, 2020, and 11 today. Out of the 4,432 confirmed positive cases, 3,547 of those individuals have recovered or are presumed recovered based on guidelines set by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 4,432 cases, 37 have been related to out of state travel, 862 are from community transmission, 2,375 are a direct contact with a previously confirmed positive case, 626 are still being investigated, and 532 are unknown. There have been 82 deaths related to COVID-19. Fourteen of the active COVID-19 cases are currently hospitalized.  

Two additional Craven County residents have died from complications related to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The eighty-first Craven County resident died on December 19, 2020. The individual was tested for COVID-19 on December 1, 2020 and resulted positive on December 4, 2020. The death was reported to the Craven County Health Department on December 21, 2020.  The eighty-second Craven County resident died on December 21, 2020. The individual was tested for COVID-19 on December 7, 2020 and resulted positive on December 8, 2020. The death was reported to the Craven County Health Department on December 21, 2020.  Both individuals 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.