NC’s COVID-19 testing numbers are going up. But the state still ranks among the worst
North Carolina is testing a smaller percentage of its residents for the coronavirus than most other states, according to a national analysis of data.
North Carolina ranks 43rd in the nation in tests per 1,000 residents, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation which analyzed data through May 7 from The COVID Tracking Project. The state has a result for 15.7 people per 1,000 — ahead of nine states or territories.
North Carolina has about 10.5 million residents. The state has completed 178,613 tests as of 11 a.m. on May 8.
Rhode Island, by comparison, has results for 74.9 per 1,000 population, tops in the county. New York, the hardest-hit state, is second at 52.9 per 1,000. There have been more than 8.1 million tests completed nationwide.
There are more than 13,900 confirmed cases in North Carolina, and more than 525 deaths from COVID-19, according to the state’s May 8 reporting.
North Carolina ranks 15th out of the 55 states and territories included in the list in overall completed tests.
“The governor and I want to see more testing going on across the state, particularly in our under served communities,” North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said Friday at a news conference.
Said Gov. Roy Cooper: “Testing, testing, testing is a priority for North Carolina.”
Increase in testing
As part of its benchmarks for re-opening the state’s economy, Cooper and his administration wants the state to process 5,000 to 7,000 tests per day.
“That number is an assessment based on ramp-up capacity, the supply chain, as well as where we feel we need be to get an accurate assessment,” state lab director Scott Shone told The News & Observer last month.
The state has reported much more testing in recent days as it tries to meet that goal. It has reported at least 5,000 completed tests in six of the last eight days.
The state’s laboratories — and that includes the state lab, local health department labs as well as commercial and university labs — can process more tests daily than that goal, Shone said. But the exact capacity is not known. The N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health has the capacity to test 400 specimens daily and sufficient supplies to maintain that volume, according to DHHS spokeswoman Amy Ellis.
“The clinical laboratory testing capacity across North Carolina is robust; however, the capacity of an individual entity testing for COVID-19 depends on a variety of factors and only that entity can speak to the facility’s testing capacity,” Ellis wrote in emailed responses to questions about testing.
Cooper appointed a 12-member Testing Surge Workgroup earlier this year. The group is “working to identify ways the state can increase the number of specimens collected and tested each day to take advantage of existing capacity,” Ellis wrote. The group is also looking to expand capacity and add new facilities that can perform tests.
Who can be tested?
On April 20, North Carolina changed its guidance to clinicians and physicians across the state on who should be tested for COVID-19. The guidance indicated that doctors could test patients with mild symptoms. It was an update from March 29 guidance.
“Anyone who needs a test in North Carolina should be getting tested right now,” Cohen said Friday. “Anyone who needs a test can get a test right now.”
The April 20 guidance said clinicians can submit samples to the state lab for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms who fits in one of the following categories:
• Hospitalized patients.
• Health care workers or first responders.
• Patients who live in or have regular contact with a high-risk setting (including long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, correctional facilities or migrant farmworker camps).
• People who are at a higher risk of severe illness.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 1:26 PM.
