North Carolina’s positive coronavirus test rate hovers at 5% while cases remain steady
North Carolina reported 1,106 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday, with the average number of new cases returning to average levels not seen since June.
There have been 186,887 coronavirus cases since March, when the first cases were reported in North Carolina.
Since last week, the seven-day average of cases has been in the 1,100 range, comparable to the average on June 13, according to News & Observer records.
Meanwhile, the percentage of positive tests on Sunday was 5%, the most recent day reported. Levels of 5% positive and lower for 14 days are an indication that there’s enough testing in a state to control viral spread, The New York Times reported. Positive tests have hovered around 5% in North Carolina for nearly a week.
But the percent of positive tests is just one metric used to assess the impact of the coronavirus, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, at a press conference Tuesday. Health officials also look at case rates, hospitalizations and surveillance, she said. Cohen said she would like that number to be even lower.
“I think we are happy to see that our percent of tests that are positive has been trending down, meaning that we think we’re doing a fair amount of testing and not as many are coming back positive and that’s a good thing,” Cohen said.
“But we also need to watch these trends over a period of time, so while the last number of days have been very good on that trend, we want to make sure that we see that going forward.”
Cohen said the state wants to ensure it’s targeting testing efforts “in populations that are at higher risk of being positive.”
“We know that tends to be our historically marginalized communities,” she said.
North Carolina announced a new vendor to provide free testing in North Carolina, joining two others that already had been selected to provide “turnkey testing sites,” according to a news release.
There are no co-pays for anyone seeking testing, including people who are uninsured, the release said.
The three vendors are planning 230 test sites in 80 counties through October, the release said.
DHHS reported 51 COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, bringing the total to 3,111. That is considered a one-day record in North Carolina, “a stark reminder that this virus continues to be dangerous, and sometimes deadly,” Cohen said Tuesday.
But it should be noted that the number reflects the day of when deaths are reported, not necessarily when the deaths occurred. There often are higher counts mid-week, as the state collects information from the weekend.
Hospitals reported treating 916 people with COVID-19 as inpatients Monday, based on information that 94% of hospitals sent to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
That breaks the three days in a row of hospitalizations being under 900 in the state, but remains fairly consistent with the past month.
The hospitalization numbers have remained below 1,000 since Aug 21.
DHHS says information on its data dashboard is preliminary and subject to change. Data is regularly updated days after it is reported.
Orange County positive test rate drops
DHHS reported the positive test rate in Orange County at 3.6%. In August, at the peak of the outbreak at UNC-Chapel Hill, the positive test rate shot up to over 13%. UNC has since transitioned to remote learning, with large numbers of students now living off campus or returning to their homes.
People between 18-24 still make up nearly half of the cases reported in Orange County. On Tuesday, there were 2,535 cases reported in Orange County.
False positive notifications in Mecklenburg
More than 6,700 people in Mecklenburg County received text messages from the county Health Department on Friday that they had tested positive for COVID-19. But the notifications were a mistake, The Charlotte Observer reported Monday.
The county tweeted on Friday: “These texts were sent due to a technical glitch in the software system that has been addressed by the software provider.”
The county began using software from the Canadian company in late May to help with case investigation and contact tracing efforts — part of a contract worth $157,800 over five years.
Ben Sessoms contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 1:24 PM.
