North Carolina health officials issue order to ease access to coronavirus testing
North Carolinians no longer need a doctor’s referral to get a coronavirus test under a new plan announced Tuesday by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
DHHS issued a statewide standing order for COVID-19 diagnostic testing and also issued a temporary order on COVID-19 diagnostic test reporting. Both moves are aimed at making it easier for people to get tested and for the state to track the results.
“Testing is an important component of the state’s strategy to slow the spread of the virus, and today’s order will make it easier for North Carolinians to get tested,” the state’s health director, Dr. Betsey Tilson, said in a statement.
The order allows testing sites to collect and submit samples to a laboratory for COVID-19 testing without requiring a specific order from a doctor and authorizes testing sites to receive results directly from laboratories.
Previously, a referral from a doctor or other healthcare provider was required, DHHS secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said during a Tuesday news conference. Now, Dr. Tilson’s order applies to everyone in the state.
“Now there is a standing order that says we want people to get tested,” Cohen said. “It just allows for that testing to happen more quickly as well as for results to go back to that person in a more streamlined way.”
In addition, Cohen said the state is opening 300 temporary testing locations, covering 100 ZIP codes that have limited access to testing, where free tests will be available. These temporary locations will be open through the end of the month.
The aim of targeting these locations is to improve testing access to the African-American, LatinX and American Indian communities, which traditionally have been underserved.
The new testing sites will be a mix of drive-thru and walk-ups, Cohen said. Testing locations will be chosen based on community needs.
“We know not everyone has a car,” Cohen said.
NC coronavirus test results delayed
The state is still seeing troubling delays in test results coming back, Cohen said. Where the average was two or three days in June, that time has grown to six or seven days, she said. Hospitalized patients are getting their results within 24 hours but wait times outside the hospital have surged.
Last week, Cohen asked federal officials to help with a reagent supply shortage that’s leading to the delayed test results. The state did get some help, she said.
“We did make some progress,” Cohen said, “and I say some because it’s time limited. They use up the reagents that came and now we are back where we are because you burn through those reagents pretty quickly.”
Cohen said the number of states around the country with surging numbers of new reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations makes it more and more difficult for everyone to get needed supplies.
“They are going to understandably be prioritized for supplies,” Cohen said. “So I’m concerned and I’m raising the alarm that we in North Carolina, our numbers are going up. Yes they are not going up as much as others and I’m very grateful for all the work North Carolinians have done to make that possible. But we still have a need here and we need to make sure we are getting the supplies we need for North Carolina.”
North Carolina reached a new single-day high in the number of people reported hospitalized by COVID-19 at 989 on Tuesday. Rising case totals and the percent of positive tests reaching 10% have Cohen’s attention.
“I continue to be concerned that North Carolina’s key COVID-19 metrics are moving in the wrong direction,” Cohen said.
Cohen has said previously that that number should be closer to 5%.
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 2:03 PM.