NC recommends more people be tested for the coronavirus as cases pass 17,000
With the state adding more coronavirus testing sites, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported Friday that more than 17,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19.
DHHS reported 12,279 tests were completed since Thursday, the second-highest one day amount, and 622 new confirmed cases of the virus.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the categories of people who should be tested for the coronavirus have expanded, including any patient who is suspected of having COVID-19.
The guidance is meant for clinicians to raise awareness of people who are more likely to be exposed to COVID-19 or are to be at risk of serious illness, Cohen said.
“We want them to think about testing for those communities,” Cohen told reporters at a news briefing Friday.
That list now includes: anyone clinicians think may have had close contact with an infected person, regardless of symptoms; people who have underlying health conditions; members of “historically marginalized populations”; people who live or have contact in “high-risk settings” (such as homeless shelters, correctional facilities, long-term care facilities); health-care workers and first responders; and employees who work in places like grocery stores and gas stations, where social distancing is more difficult.
The expanded list is a sharp departure from previous state guidance, which strictly limited testing.
More labs are testing, and the state has more supplies, Cohen said.
“We have the capacity, and we want to use it,” she said.
Expanded testing is a central part of the state’s plan to allow business and leisure activities to ramp up during the pandemic.
In all, about 7% of tests have come back positive, and that percentage is shrinking. There have been 231,547 completed tests and 17,129 positive tests since the first case in North Carolina on March 3, according to NCDHHS.
There have been 641 deaths from the virus, an increase of 26 from Thursday, according to data reported Friday morning.
North Carolina has started distributing personal protective equipment to long-term care facilities, which have become coronavirus hot spots. The packages of face-shields, masks, gloves and shoe coverings are going to 3,800 facilities, said Mike Sprayberry, the state’s Emergency Management.
The first regional drive-through sites are open in Franklin and Martin counties, Sprayberry said. Other sites will open over the next two weeks. Franklin County has outbreaks at two long-term care facilities, including one that has reported 19 deaths.
During a Friday morning webinar with business leaders Cohen stressed the importance of testing and “layers” of testing.
With the state perhaps a week away from entering Phase Two of its reopening, Cohen noted that without a vaccine for COVID-19 or a major breakthrough on a therapeutic drug for the disease, testing would be a vital component for businesses and their employees in what she referred to “getting back to normal.”
“We have to make sure people feel safe coming back to work and coming to your businesses if they’re consumers,” Cohen said during the webinar organized by Capital Associated Industries.
“The virus will be with us and we all need to work together.”
DHHS’ website has a list of 400 sites in the state that are testing for the virus.
The News & Observer is keeping its own tally of coronavirus cases and deaths in North Carolina. The number will be higher than what NCDHHS reports at 11 a.m., as counties continue to report data throughout the day. The N&O’s data shows 17,494 cases and 667 deaths.
Temperature checks at businesses
Phase One has allowed more outdoor activities and the opening of certain retail stores. Phase One is to extend until May 22, when a decision will be made by Gov. Roy Cooper about reopening more indoor businesses such as restaurants, gyms and salons.
Cohen was asked if temperature checks each day at businesses, as a central means of testing, could result in a “false sense of security” in terms of having a safe workplace.
“Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Is it something? Yes,” she said. “But it’s the right question to ask if it’s a false sense of security. That’s where for me testing comes back into play. If you’re really wanting to do screening, testing needs to be a component of that. But we’re not there yet and when you’re not there you do what you can do right now and temperature checks is one of those things.”
Cohen also encouraged business leaders to use the DHHS screening checklist that refers to posing questions not just about fever or coughs, but loss of smell and taste.
“It’s not perfect and it could give us a false sense of security,” she said. “You can’t do any one thing. You can’t be like ‘I’m screening my employees for fever, we’re good, we don’t have to do masks, we don’t have to social distance.’ No, we have to do all those things. I think it’s the combination of them that will help us until we evolve the science and the technology.
“I would do the screening because I think it’s all about layers. Layers of actions businesses can take to keep their employees and their customers safe. That may change in the future but I think it’s a low-cost intervention we can be doing now.”
Durham stay-at-home order
Durham has extended its stay-at-home order, and it has no set end date, The News & Observer reported. The current order was set to expire Friday night. The updated order will end when it’s rescinded.
The new combined city-county order is more strict than the state order because it continues to require masks for residents when they leave their homes and expect to be in locations where they cannot maintain social distance. The state encourages face coverings, but does not require them.
Durham businesses must screen employees for COVID-19 symptoms.
Testing program of state public safety employees
North Carolina prison, juvenile justice, and probation employees can get free coronavirus tests at FastMed Urgent Care Centers starting Monday, The News & Observer reported.
The tests are voluntary and the results are confidential, state Department of Public Safety officials said.
About 21,000 department employees are eligible for the free tests.
Neuse Correctional Institution in Goldsboro and the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh have reported major outbreaks, and nine other facilities have reported cases.
Five inmates have died of COVID-19 related illnesses, but the department said that many of the infected have recovered.
Mark Schultz and Dan Kane contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 12:07 PM with the headline "NC recommends more people be tested for the coronavirus as cases pass 17,000."
