Beaufort County Emergency Management: COVID-19 Update (5-18-20) | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Mitigation Efforts
  • Beaufort County’s EOC is now fully activated to provide support for essential county and municipal functions.
  • Public access will be restricted to Beaufort County Government buildings beginning Tuesday, 3/24. Guidance for conducting business with our various departments can be found using the following link and will also be posted at each county building:
    https://co.beaufort.nc.us/post/421/limited-access-to-county-facilities
  • The City of Washington closed the following city office building to the public until further notice:
    • City Hall
    • Bobby Andrews Recreation Center
    • George H. and Laura E. Brown Library
    • Grace Martin Harwell Senior Center
    • Moore Aquatic and Fitness Center
    • Susiegray McConnell Sports Complex
  • Beaufort County Schools will remain closed through the end of the current school year. They will continue to serve meals Mon-Friday at the following locations:
    • Cornerstone Family Worship Center1918 West 5th Street, WashingtonContact: Tiana PayneChurch Ph: 252-946-6109
    • Temple of Joy96 Hill Road Chocowinity NCContact: Apostle Georgette RedmondChurch Ph: 252-975-6580Cell: 917-7223
    • Ware Creek Baptist Church2302 Maules Point Road, Blunts CreekContact: Bishop Charles SmithCell: 252-622-1924Bishop Charles Tyson, Pastor
    • Fresh Anointing Church of God820 Hwy 33 East, Aurora NCCell: 252-364-7493
    • River Road Estates
    • Northeast Elementary School
    • Eastern Elementary School
    • John Cotton Tayloe Elementary School
    • Chocowinity Primary School
    • SW Snowden Elementary School
    • Belhaven Civic Center parking lot
    • Salvation Army parking lot in Washington
    • Washington Police Substation at 9th street
  • Any child can have a breakfast and lunch.
  • This lunch will be served in a “drive-thru” setting so no one has to leave their car or enter the school building. Parents and family members may pick up these meals for their students whether or not the students are with them. We will just need the names of the students receiving the meals. Any student of any school can pick up a meal at any site.
  • Families who need help finding meals for their children ages 18 and younger can text “FOODNC” to “877-877”.
  • The Governor’s Office has extended the following orders through May 8th. Additional details pertaining to this extension and subsequent plans to lifts these restrictions will be provided in tomorrow’s update.
    • EO 139: Provides additional regulatory flexibility to help ensure capacity in the state’s health care system and improve its ability to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • EO 138: Effective 5 p.m. May 8, 2020, eases some restrictions on travel, business operations and mass gatherings.
    • EO 135: Extends until May 8, North Carolina’s Stay At Home (Executive Order 121) as well as other orders regarding the closures of restaurants for dine-in service, bars and other close-contact businesses
    • EO 134: Allows furloughed employees to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
    • EO 133: Extends certain provisions in previous executive orders that are related to transportation.
    • EO 131: Addresses three issues: requires retail stores that are still operating to implement new social distancing policies to make shopping safer for customers and employees; makes earlier COVID-19 guidelines mandatory for nursing facilities, and recommends other long-term care facilities to do the same; speeds up the process to get benefits to people out of work.
    • EO 130: Provides more access to health care beds, expands the pool of health care workers and orders essential childcare services for workers responding to the crisis.
    • EO 124: Prohibits utilities – including electric, gas, water and wastewater services from disconnecting people who are unable to pay during this pandemic and prohibits them from collecting fees, penalties or interest for late payment. The order applies for the next 60 days and gives residential customers at least six months to pay outstanding bills.
    • EO 121: A statewide “Stay at Home” order will become effective at 5pm today. This order will restrict travel to essential activities only. (i.e. Travel for items such as, groceries, food, medications, household supplies, essential workers, etc.) This order will also limit gatherings to less than 10 people.
    • EO 120: Extended school closures through May 15th. This order also imposes the following restrictions on businesses:
      • Bingo Parlors, including Bingo sites operate by charitable organizations
      • Bowling Alleys
      • Indoor Exercise Facilities (e.g. gyms, yoga studios, martial arts facilities, indoor trampoline and rock climbing facilities)
      • Health Clubs
      • Indoor/Outdoor Pools
      • Live Performance Venues
      • Movie Theaters
      • Skating Rinks
      • Spas
      • Gaming and businesses which allow gaming activities
    • EO 119: Lifting restrictions on local Health Departments, child care facilities, and commerce transport. This order also restricting various functions of DMV to include:
      • Driver’s License Office will operate by appointment only.
      • Closing of all Drivers License Office that are on insufficient size to maintain social distancing.
      • Extending office hours at locations that are of sufficient size.
      • Postpone all DMV related hearings for 60 days.
    • EO 118: Restricting dine-in services at all restaurants / bars. These businesses will continue to be allowed to provide carry-out and delivery services.
    Testing
  • There have been 627 tests completed in Beaufort County to date, with 575 negatives, 30 positives and 22 pending. (These are cumulative numbers and includes tests performed at the Health Department and reporting private medical facilities throughout our county.) *Three of our positive cases were tested in other counties but are Beaufort Co. residents.*
    Free Wi-Fi Locations
    Please see the message below from Wilkes Communications / Riverstreet Networks:

    Wilkes Communications/ Riverstreet Networks Installs Free Wi-Fi Hotspots to the Community

    Wilkesboro, NC — Wilkes Communications/Riverstreet Networks is committed to the well-being of our customers, our employees, and our community. As we continue to actively monitor developments related to coronavirus (COVID-19) we want to assure you that we are taking all necessary health and safety precautions in accordance with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and local and state health officials for our customers, employees and the community.

    We are dedicated to serving our valued customers and ensuring they maintain reliable access to the online resources and information they want and need. To ease the strain in this challenging time, we have opened several Wi-Fi hotspots in the communities we serve. We currently have over 100 free Wi-Fi hotspots at 70 locations in North Carolina and Virginia. This will enable students and employees who may not have internet access to be able to complete coursework and work remotely. This free service can be accessed from the safety of your vehicle. Please visit wilkes.net or myriverstreet.net for a listing of our hotspot locations.

    Wilkes Communications/RiverStreet Networks would like to thank the businesses for allowing us to install this equipment on their premises. This partnership illustrates how much they care about their community and its well-being. Our network and communications services are crucial to the people we serve in not only keeping them informed but allowing the social distancing required to slow down the spread of the virus through the population.

    Our communities, our country, and our world are resilient places. Together, we’ll see our way through this situation and be stronger because of it. Thank you for helping us all stay healthy.

    Free Wi-Fi access can be found at the following locations within Beaufort County:

  • Pantego Community Fire Department | 25673 US 264 Hwy E, Pantego NC 27860
  • Pinetown Volunteer Fire Department | 7262 N Boyd Rd, Pinetown NC 27865
  • Pungo Christian Academy | 983 West Main Street, Belhaven NC 27810
  • Northeast Elementary School | 21000 US-264 Pinetown, NC 27865
  • Bath Elementary School (Behind Cafeteria) | 110 King St, Bath, NC 27808
  • St. Clairs Church | 9814 NC 99, Bath, NC 27808
  • Alligood Church of God | 1891 Mill Hole Rd, Washington, NC 27889
  • Union Grove Church of Christ | 6889 NC-99, Pantego, NC 27860
  • Life Gate Free Will Baptist Church | 52 Old Pamlico Beach Rd, Belhaven, NC 27810
  • Pungo Fire Department | 40 Pike Rd, Pantego NC 27860
  • Everett’s Crossroads Church of Christ | 48 South White Post Rd, Pinetown, NC
  • Terra Ceia Christian School | 4428 Christian School Rd, Pantego

    Please refer to the following link for a complete list of Wi-Fi locations in NC and VA:

    See a List of FREE Community WI-FI Locations — NC and VA by Clicking HERE

    Resources
    We have created a resource page that can accessed at:
    https://co.beaufort.nc.us/departments/human-services/public-health/2019-coronavirus-covid-19

    This resource page contains guidance for businesses, long term care facilities, families, and more.

    We are here to offer support and answer any questions or concerns. We are encouraging all community partners to share accurate information and promote it within your businesses, communities, and elsewhere. Beaufort County's website and Facebook page are great ways to stay up to date on accurate information.


  • Chris Newkirk
  • Deputy Director
  • Beaufort County Emergency Services
  • 1420 Highland Dr
  • Washington, N.C. 27889
  • Office: (252) 940-6511
  • Cell: (252) 378-5352
  • Chris.Newkirk@co.beaufort.nc.us

Go Back



Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Beaufort County's Proposed Budget of Fiscal 2020 /2021 Will Set the Ad Valorem Tax Rate at $.635 Local News & Expression, Regional Health System, Government, Governing Beaufort County Weekly Update: DHS Response to COVID-19

HbAD0

 
Back to Top