Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
little community spread . <br /> Wallace said the public needs to be careful to not stigmatize or parse out who might have the <br /> virus . He said it makes less sense for smaller counties to report the data because it 's easier to <br /> violate patient privacy laws . <br /> " People are naturally going to want to do that when there is a time of uncertainty and a little bit of <br /> fear and worry, " Wallace said . <br /> Wallace said the state is collecting the information to do contact tracing to find close contacts and <br /> reach out to them to warn them they may have come into contact with the disease . <br /> Wallace said the numbers are being put out publicly in some places for no other reason than <br /> people want to know. <br /> The first case reported in Wake County and the state was about three weeks ago . The number of <br /> confirmed cases has swelled to over 6o in Wake County and more than 7o in Durham County. <br /> There were more than 450 confirmed cases across the state as of Monday afternoon . <br /> These numbers only reflect officially confirmed cases . Testing is limited and there are likely more <br /> unreported cases . <br /> HOW NC IS RESPONDING <br /> During a news conference Tuesday, N . C . Department of Health and Human Service Chief <br /> Medical Officer Elizabeth Tilson said her staff is culminating the curves and trends in the data to <br /> be more transparent with residents and plans to release that information soon . <br /> She added that she needs to find a balance between releasing data needed to protect public health <br /> and data that could easily identify a patient . <br /> Tilson said releasing information on a county level risks a person's privacy more than releasing <br /> information on a broad level . <br /> Other states across the country have been sharing far more detailed data publicly. Florida health <br /> officials release a daily report with extensive data demographic data on all reported cases . <br /> Public health officials need to be " mindful of sharing information that is critical to achieving an <br /> effective public health response , " said Brooks Fuller, N . C . Open Government Coalition . <br /> " Public officials are rightly concerned about sharing any information that might be considered <br /> ifiable information , " he said . "At the end of the day, information related to the <br /> personally ident <br />