DARE COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) — Dare County has been closed to visitors and nonresident property owners for more than a month to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
That could change soon.
Staff with the Dare County Control Group are creating a plan to gradually lift entry restrictions into the county. That plan will be released to the public on Tuesday.
RELATED: Dare County restricts visitor access amid coronavirus outbreak
The plan will not go into effect immediately, but it will eventually allow nonresident property owners to access their land and homes, 10 On Your Side’s Andy Fox reports.
Dare County prohibited visitors from entering the area to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on March 17. That restriction was extended to nonresident property owners on March 20.
Checkpoints were set up at access points in Dare County to prohibit visitors from entering. Only those with a valid reentry permit were allowed back into the county.
When entry restrictions were put in place, only 40 North Carolina residents had tested positive for COVID-19.
That number has dramatically increased in the last month. Now, more than 6,700 North Carolina residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and 179 have died from the disease. In Dare County, 11 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and one person has died.
RELATED: Interactive Map | COVID-19 Testing Vs. Confirmed Cases by State
The announcement that Dare County will gradually reopen to nonresident property owners comes about two weeks after six people filed a federal lawsuit against the locality. The six nonresident property owners claimed that their constitutional rights have been violated because they’ve been denied access to Dare County since March 20, Andy Fox reported.
Their attorney filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Dare County on Monday, arguing that the nonresident property owners should be allowed to reenter the county and access their properties.
In the preliminary injunction, the attorney argued that without reentry, the nonresident property owners would not be able to prepare their rental homes for the spring and summer season when many tourists vacation in the Outer Banks.
The property owners also argue that they haven’t been able to obtain medical treatment in Dare County like other Outer Banks residents because they do not live in the state full time.
