Mecklenburg needs to test 20,000 residents daily to slow COVID-19 spread, officials say

Mecklenburg needs to test 20,000 residents daily for the coronavirus in an effort to quell rapidly rising infection rates.

That’s about 10 times as many tests currently administered each day, County Manager Dena Diorio told top Mecklenburg officials in an email Monday afternoon.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told North Carolina officials that she was concerned about the upward COVID-19 trends in eight counties, including Mecklenburg, according to Diorio’s email.

“States that have been tested at the levels being proposed have seen their cases decline,” Diorio wrote. “We don’t expect to get to 20,000 tests per day immediately. It will need to ramp up as resources are made available.”

Local hospital systems and private healthcare groups will submit requests to the state for supplies they may need to reach the testing target, Diorio told county commissioners during their virtual meeting Tuesday afternoon.

But it’s unclear how long it will take to expand capacity, especially to the point where all Mecklenburg residents — regardless of symptoms or possible exposure to someone infected with COVID-19 — can be tested for the virus, Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said Tuesday.

The state will also help Mecklenburg expand its contact tracing and investigation efforts, Diorio said. There are about 170 trained employees in the county so far, Harris announced last month.

The new directive comes days after Mecklenburg finished a 30-day program to test 5% of its population, or about 55,500 people. Seven other counties in North Carolina must also strengthen their coronavirus testing programs due to similar spikes in hospitalizations and positive test results, Harris said.

In recent weeks, Mecklenburg has used a tiered testing strategy for “priority groups,” gradually loosening testing criteria for people with milder symptoms and possible exposures to the virus. Yet local health officials have not disclosed the demographic details — including age, sex, race or ethnicity — for the 55,887 residents tested throughout the program.

Harris did not provide county commissioners Tuesday with a timeline for the renewed testing push in Mecklenburg or outline different priority groups.

Protesters should get tested

George Dunlap, chairman of the Mecklenburg County commissioners, urged residents to seek coronavirus testing if they’ve been involved in protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“We can’t mandate it,” Dunlap said. “We’re making this request of you.”

Hours earlier, Gov. Roy Cooper made the same appeal, expressing concern about potential COVID-19 spread amid almost two weeks of demonstrations throughout the state.

“Those protests have First Amendment protections... but it doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t take steps to protect themselves and others from COVID-19,” Cooper told reporters.

Novant Health is now testing some asymptomatic people who are around high risk exposure situations, following new guidelines from the state Department of Health and Human Services, according to the hospital system.

And the threshold for testing has been lowered, meaning people with more mild COVID-19 symptoms can now be tested, according to Novant.

Harris warned county commissioners last week that any surge in cases tied to local protests could take 14 days to appear in the data, based on the incubation period of COVID-19. That means by Friday, the earliest data could start to trickle in from the first night of protests in Charlotte on May 29.

People who have participated in protests but are asymptomatic will be eligible for testing, Harris said.

Virus fatigue

Some county commissioners pressed Harris on Tuesday for stronger community outreach surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, emphasizing more residents are not complying with masks or social distancing guidelines even as cases continue to rise. The health director acknowledged that not all residents are following quarantine and isolation orders — or answering phone calls from contact tracers.

“I know that people are getting tired of this, but I think the most important thing we can do is tell people the truth about what is happening with the COVID virus,” Commissioner Susan Harden said. “The conditions are at the the highest they’ve ever been.”

Crucial coronavirus metrics in Mecklenburg, including hospitalizations and the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19, have steadily increased as North Carolina gradually reopens businesses and eases restrictions.

In the past week, 9.7% of those tested by Atrium Health and Novant were infected, and an average of 98 people were hospitalized in the region’s acute care facilities, Mecklenburg officials said Tuesday. There’s also been a steady decrease in social distancing, Harris said.

Commissioner Mark Jerrell said he’s worried about a second wave of infections as people grow more relaxed amid reopening.

“We have to change course and make some tough decisions for our community, particularly as it relates to testing,” Jerrell said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “We need people to stay vigilant, to stay on guard.”

There were 5,606 coronavirus cases and 115 related deaths among county residents as of Tuesday afternoon, Harris said. Commissioner Vilma Leake decried those rising tallies, urging better communication throughout churches and other organizations.

“This is bearing heavily on the community,” Leake said. “This doesn’t speak well for any of us as commissioners working hard to get information to the public.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 1:52 PM.