From the frontline of Charlotte COVID testing: ‘It’s going to get very bad,’ doctor says

Earlier this summer, StarMed Healthcare — one of Mecklenburg County’s major COVID vaccination and testing partners — only faced emergency situations with patients every few days.

But as infection rates soar, a larger volume of hospital referrals is becoming “a lot more common,” said Dr. Arin Piramzadian, StarMed’s chief medical officer.

For instance, four people who sought a COVID-19 test from StarMed in Charlotte on Wednesday were quickly redirected to the ER due to the severity of symptoms, including shortness of breath.

Testing demand at StarMed locations is also skyrocketing, with the average volume of tests administered daily roughly tripling between the start of July and August.

“Our testing numbers are increasing significantly each week, and it’s not even school starting up yet,” Piramzadian told the Observer on Wednesday.

“It’s going to get very bad...The reality is once the CDC (in May) removed masking guidelines and with the delta variant being so contagious, it pretty much just ripped through the population.”

The average turnaround time for test results is one to two days, Piramzadian said. Earlier this year, when testing demand dropped significantly, results were available within four to six hours.

COVID testing demographics

People need to resume mask wearing — and they should get vaccinated against COVID-19, Piramzadian said.

The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people, regardless of their vaccination status, should wear masks indoors in areas with high COVID transmission rates. That includes the Charlotte region and most of North Carolina.

At StarMed’s drive-thru testing lanes, Piramzadian said, the demographic is now skewing far younger than earlier in the pandemic.

Individuals in their 20s and 30s, the same age group posting low vaccination rates in Mecklenburg County, are fueling the uptick in testing. Piramzadian said he’s also seen children who “definitely don’t look as well as they should.”

Roughly 75% of people seeking a COVID diagnosis in recent months at StarMed come from minority groups, Piramzadian said. That aligns with lagging vaccination rates in marginalized communities.

Just 23% of Black residents in Mecklenburg are at least partially vaccinated, compared to 53% of white residents, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

About half of the people getting tested for COVID-19 at StarMed sites recently are vaccinated, Piramzadian said.

Collectively, their rate of positive tests has hovered around 1%, a markedly lower volume than the county’s overall 12.4% positivity rate. (The rate from Mecklenburg health officials also incorporates COVID tests administered elsewhere in the county, including at Atrium Health and Novant Health.)

Meanwhile, unvaccinated people at StarMed are notching a positivity rate between 12% to 15%. State health officials have long relied on a 5% threshold to gauge if virus spread is under control.

”We had the opportunity to have herd immunity and stop this from spreading so significantly, so it’s just very disheartening,” Piramzadian said. “Now we’re starting from ground zero. If you look at our positivity rates now compared to last year, they’re pretty equal at this point.”

‘Very bleak’

Last December, as the first batch of COVID vaccines arrived in Charlotte, Piramzadian recalled how excited he was. Those precious vials were supposed to herald the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

But vaccine hesitancy, coupled with vaccine misinformation on social media, stymied immunization efforts, Piramzadian said. About half of Mecklenburg residents are still not vaccinated, giving the delta variant ample opportunity to continue to spread.

”It’s very bleak,” Piramzadian said of the latest coronavirus trends, warning this surge may last for several months.

Already, hospitals are feeling the crush of the delta variant. Novant Health has a rate of patients that resembles a “busy winter,” chief clinical officer Dr. Sid Fletcher told reporters Wednesday.

Mecklenburg’s seven major Novant and Atrium Health hospitals are all above 70% capacity for adult in-patient beds as of last week, according to federal data.

For now, the vaccines are only authorized for those ages 12 and older. But StarMed is now expanding its role in Moderna’s KidCOVE vaccine trial for children ages 6 to 12.

Piramzadian said 100 more children are being added to the study. Interested parents can email participate@onsiteclinical.com or visit Starmed.care. Compensation is just under $1,000.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 12:09 PM.