Testing, Tracing Surge For Mecklenburg As COVID-19 Cases Rise

CHARLOTTE, NC — North Carolina public health officials will surge testing and tracing resources to Mecklenburg County this week as the state faces the fourth straight day of record hospitalizations from coronavirus-related illness.

"It was another high day for cases and hospitalizations," North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said during a news conference Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, labs in the state had confirmed 1,011 new cases of COVID-19 since Tuesday, increasing the total of known cases recorded in the state to more than 38,000. About 8 percent of those tested in the last day were positive, the lowest rate the state has recorded in the past five days.

The state also recorded 24 new coronavirus-related deaths overnight, pushing the statewide COVID-19 death toll to 1,053, according to data released by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Hospital beds are filling up around the state, according to a NCDHHS poll of about 86 percent of the state's hospitals. As of Wednesday, about 22 percent of inpatient hospital beds and about 14 percent of the intensive care beds remain available

"This virus continues to be spread by people who don't know they have COVID-19" Cohen said.

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.

NCDHHS will begin surging testing and tracing capabilities this week to several targeted communities and populations hardest hit by COVID-19, Cohen said. Those counties include urban areas of Mecklenburg, Durham and Wake counties, as well as the more rural counties of Forsyth, Duplin, Lee, Johnston and Alamance counties.

Dr. 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.

Wednesday, Mecklenburg County reported 5,861 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 117 deaths, NCDHHS said.

State health experts are concerned the virus could spread since people gathered in racial justice protests around the state and are urging protesters to get a novel 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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