Contact tracers make strides in pinpointing COVID-19’s spread in Charlotte region

In a critical breakthrough for contact tracing efforts, Mecklenburg County health officials have started to better pinpoint where coronavirus cases are circulating in the Charlotte area.

Since late August, infected individuals were most likely to spread the virus at private gatherings, as well as at restaurants and breweries, Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris told county commissioners Tuesday.

House parties are cropping up “more and more” across the county — among both high school and college students — as certain businesses remain shuttered due to COVID-19 restrictions, Harris said.

“Most of these parties, people are not wearing masks. They’re not social distancing,” Harris said. “And you have no idea where these other folks have been ... and who they’ve been around.”

The refined analysis of cases is made possible through a new software function contact tracers use to log and piece together clusters, Harris said.

But the county health department still doesn’t know the transmission history of more than 20,000 infections since the start of the pandemic.

In the new survey of patients, about 38% of those with COVID-19 told contact tracers they had recently attended events with friends and family, Harris said. The size of those events and subsequent number of infections are unclear.

“You feel safe around your family. You feel safe around your friends. That does not mean that they’re not COVID positive,” Harris said. “You still need to use precautions, and we continue to talk about limiting the gatherings that you’re involved in.”

Harris said 36% of the infected people also frequented restaurants and breweries, though she did not identify which businesses. Less than 10% of infected individuals reported going to weddings, funerals and places of worship.

Protests and the Charlotte portion of the Republican National Convention were not mentioned as “super-spreader’” events, according to newly released data.

People should get tested for COVID-19 if they recently attended a large gathering — or if they regularly dine out — to quell the possibility of more outbreak, the health director said.

Contact tracing glitch

For months, contact tracers have failed to definitively connect new COVID-19 outbreaks to certain gatherings, houses of worship and businesses throughout the Charlotte area. Harris said the additional information can help officials monitor looming outbreaks and notify people who were potentially exposed.

“Contact tracing continues to be an essential part of our work,” Harris said, while acknowledging the prevention tool faces ongoing challenges.

That includes grappling with the sheer volume of cases in Mecklenburg — and determining exactly where people contracted the virus if they have gone to multiple social gatherings and venues.

There have been 27,271 coronavirus cases and 340 deaths among county residents as of Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Young adults ages 20 to 39 make up the bulk of infections, county data shows. Infections will likely spike in the Charlotte area following lax behaviors and large gatherings during Labor Day weekend, Harris warned last week.

Contact tracers must also still contend with people who are unwilling to answer the phone and provide confidential health information.

The hurdle may be exacerbated after Friday’s technical glitch from HealthSpace, a software company that automates some contact tracing messages for Mecklenburg. Thousands of residents were told they had tested positive for COVID-19 — but it was a “bizarre” mistake and quickly corrected, Harris emphasized Tuesday.

“It was incredibly unfortunate that it happened,” Harris said.

But some county commissioners demanded more transparency from HealthSpace, which claimed a typo triggered the faulty text messages and emails.

“This whole HealthSpace is a big black eye,” said Elaine Powell, vice chair of the commissioners. “I just question the explanation because it seems like they were hacked. It has rattled the public trust.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 10:22 PM.