NC Sees Another Record-Setting Day Of COVID-19 Hospitalizations

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina recorded its highest number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations Thursday, as the state's supply of intensive care beds dwindled to 13 percent availability, according to data released by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

The poll of 86 percent of responding state hospitals also indicated at least 80 percent of inpatient hospital beds were filled Thursday. As of June 11, there were 812 coronavirus-related hospitalizations reported in North Carolina, 32 more than Wednesday and the highest number recorded yet in the state since the coronavirus pandemic began three months ago.

Since Wednesday, 11 people lost their lives to coronavirus, increasing the state's death toll to 1,064, NCDHHS said.

Labs in North Carolina have confirmed 39,481 COVID-19 cases in the state, including 1,310 new cases confirmed in the state since Wednesday.

As of Thursday, 9 percent of tests were positive in the state. By comparison, the World Health Organization recommends that governments have a percent positive rate of 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days before reopening.

"If a positivity rate is too high, that may indicate that the state is only testing the sickest patients who seek medical attention, and is not casting a wide enough net to know how much of the virus is spreading within its communities," Johns Hopkins University said. "A low rate of positivity in testing data can be seen as a sign that a state has sufficient testing capacity for the size of their outbreak and is testing enough of its population to make informed decisions about reopening."

As of Wednesday, 19 states, including North Carolina, were identified as states with higher than recommended positivity rates and were in need of increased COVID-19 testing capacity.

According to North Carolina's top public health official, the state will begin surging testing and tracing resources this week to COVID-19 hot spots around the state, such as Mecklenburg County, which had confirmed 6,155 cases and 115 deaths Thursday.

NCDHHS will also surge testing and tracing capabilities to several other communities and populations hardest hit by COVID-19, such as Durham and Wake counties, as well as the more rural counties of Forsyth, Duplin, Lee, Johnston and Alamance counties.

"This virus continues to be spread by people who don't know they have COVID-19," NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said during a news conference Wednesday.

In the past month, North Carolina has expanded testing to about 400 sites around the state and has increased processing in state labs by ramping up from 5,000 tests processed in a day to about 15,000, she said.

"We want to rapidly increase testing for people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 but are not having symptoms, especially people from historically marginalized populations who we know have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19," Cohen said.

Deborah Birx, Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, recently contacted Cohen out of concern regarding COVID-19 spread in these specific counties, Cohen confirmed Wednesday.

In Mecklenburg County, health officials are aiming to ramp up testing from 2,000 tests a day to 20,000, The Charlotte Observer reported.

State health experts are concerned that recent racial justice protests will accelerate spread of the virus around the state, and are urging anyone who protested or attended a mass gather to get a coronavirus test.

"If you have been participating in the protests, we are asking you to go to one of the testing sites and make sure you get tested to decrease the spread of the virus. That's our request. We can't mandate it but we are all concerned about what is happening in our community and right now we are trending in the wrong direction," Mecklenburg County Commission Chairman George Dunlap said, WSOC reported.

State public health officials launched an online tool last week that can be used to determine if someone should consider COVID-19 testing, and if so, where they can go for a test. The site also helps monitor symptoms for those who have tested positive or possibly been exposed to the virus.

Says NC DHHS, new online tools include:

• Check My Symptoms, a public website that allows people to enter their symptoms to determine if they should consider getting tested for COVID-19. If a test is recommended, they will receive a link to a list of nearby testing sites via email or text.
• Find My Testing Place, a public website that allows people to enter their county or ZIP code and access a list of nearby testing site locations online.
• COVID-19 Community Team Outreach (CCTO) Tool, a password-protected online software that helps people track their own symptoms if they have been advised to do so by the COVID-19 Community Team. The tool is also a platform that helps streamline and integrate contact tracing work across the state.

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