COVID-19 spike in Wake County outpaces NC over the past week
The Triangle has not been exempt from the post-Thanksgiving surge in new COVID-19 cases, according to data reported by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
In the week from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6, there were 3,824 new COVID-19 cases in the Triangle, up from 2,904 during the preceding week. The bulk of the increase came in Wake County, which rose from 2,154 to 3,022 new cases. Orange recorded a slight increase, from 185 to 243 cases, while Durham actually saw a small decrease, from 565 to 559 cases.
The Triangle-wide week-over-week increase in new cases of 31.7% is close to the statewide increase of 32.8%. But Wake County’s 40.3% increase is outpacing the statewide average, even as Orange County’s increase hovers almost exactly at the statewide rate and Durham’s slight decline in new cases means it is well beneath the North Carolina number.
On three days over the past week, Wake County has recorded single-day case totals that would have been record highs at any other point in the pandemic, with Saturday’s 734 new cases marking the new high.
Public health officials have warned that it is more important than ever to maintain public health measures like physical distancing and wearing a mask outside of your household, due to the amount of virus spreading throughout the state, but also because COVID-19 vaccines appear very close.
North Carolina officials have said medical workers and hospital staff who work with COVID-19 patients could receive vaccinations in the middle of this month.
In his weekly video message, Rod Jenkins, the director of Durham County’s public health department, said it is hard to know when exactly an individual person will be able to receive the vaccine. He also reiterated that the COVID-19 vaccines will be safe.
“Durham, I can’t overstate this: These vaccines will be absolutely critical for stopping the spread of COVID-19 in our community. We simply cannot put this pandemic behind us until we all get vaccinated,” Jenkins said. “While we wait for vaccines to become available, we can’t afford to slack off in our COVID response.”
COVID-19 in schools
As more Wake County students return to the classroom, there have been more reported COVID-19 cases.
The News & Observer reported this week that the 68 new cases identified by the Wake County school system represented a new high. There have been more cases recorded each week since students started returning to the classroom on Oct. 26.
Wake officials have said that while they are concerned about new cases, they expected to see an increase as students began to attend more classes in person.
Daily classes have started for all PreK-3 students and K-12 special education regional students not in the Virtual Academy, according to the N&O. Students in grades 4 through 8 are part of a rotation, in which they spend one week in the classroom and two weeks learning virtually. Most high school students are learning virtually.
There have been multiple COVID-19 clusters at area schools, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. A cluster in a child care or school setting is defined as at least five cases that can be plausibly linked within a two-week period. If there are no new cases within four weeks of the last positive test or onset of symptoms, the cluster is considered over.
In Wake County, Cardinal Charter Academy has recorded five cases, while there have been seven cases apiece at Cary Christian School, Raleigh Christian School and St. David’s School. There has also been a cluster at Wake Christian Academy.
Durham County has ongoing clusters at Durham Christian Academy, which has led to 26 cases, and Bethesda Christian Academy, with 15 cases.
At area universities, UNC-Chapel Hill recorded 15 new cases among students and four among staff during the past week. N.C. State University reported a total of 18 cases over the same period, while Duke University has not updated its COVID-19 dashboard since the end of the fall semester.
Nursing home outbreaks
Across the Triangle, there are 38 ongoing outbreaks at nursing homes or residential care facilities, as well as two at jails, according to DHHS’ outbreak report and releases from local health departments. An outbreak is defined as two or more infections that can plausibly be linked.
The DHHS report describes ongoing outbreaks at 10 nursing homes and nine residential care facilities in Wake County.
There are three additional outbreaks which have been reported by the Wake County Health Department and which have not yet appeared on the DHHS report — Avendelle on Lazy River Assisted Living, Swift Creek Health Center at the Templeton of Cary and The Addison of Fuquay-Varina Assisted Living and Memory Care. It was not immediately clear how many cases were associated with each of those outbreaks.
The Swift Creek Health Center outbreak is the second one at that facility. In the past month, six Wake County facilities have confirmed their second outbreaks, meaning visitation is suspended for a month under state rules. Wake County officials also recommend steps like requiring that employees only work at one facility and stricter cleaning protocols at locations that have had at least two outbreaks.
Durham has 13 ongoing outbreaks at nursing homes or assisted living facilities, while Orange County has three outbreaks at nursing homes.
There are also ongoing outbreaks at the Durham County Detention Center and Wake County Detention Center, according to DHHS.
This story was originally published December 6, 2020 at 7:12 PM.