Amid holidays and omicron, NC’s COVID positive test rate tops 20%, a pandemic high
North Carolina’s COVID-19 positive test rate hit a record high Sunday, the latest available data, of 21.9%, as new cases continue to increase due to holiday gatherings and the highly contagious omicron variant, many public health officials suspect.
The previous high was 17.1% on Jan. 4.
Over the last seven days of available data, DHHS has reported that an average of 13% of cases have returned positive per day. State health officials have said they want that number at 5% or lower.
Over the last six days, North Carolina has reported more than 32,000 new COVID-19 cases. The six days prior, the state reported just over 22,300 new cases.
It’s the first time that the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has updated its COVID metrics since last Wednesday due to the long Christmas weekend.
Hospitalizations due to the virus continue to increase also as DHHS reported 1,992 on Tuesday, an increase from just over 1,200 at the first of the month. It’s still much lower than the nearly 4,000 reported at the height of the delta surge a few months ago.
The number of COVID patients requiring intensive care statewide is 482, up from 315 at the beginning of the month. During the delta surge ICU patients hit a pandemic high of nearly 1,000.
Among testing samples conducted by the UNC Health system from the week prior to last, over 20% were omicron, a variant of the coronavirus that infectious disease specialists believe is more contagious than previous forms of the virus, though it induces less severe symptoms, the latest reports suggests.
And though omicron spreads more easily than the original strain of the virus, vaccines are expected to protect from severe disease, hospitalization and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Christmas Day, over 58% of new cases nationwide are omicron, according to the CDC. Among Southeast states, the region that includes North Carolina, over 78% are the new variant.
But state-specific data on variant monitoring only dates to Dec. 4. Omicron was first discovered in late November.
Officials suspect that omicron is widespread in the state, even with the lack of data.
As of Tuesday, 19,308 North Carolinians have died due to COVID-19.
Inside an NC testing clinic
At a testing site in McDowell County in western North Carolina, 85 out of 100 tests on Monday came back positive, former state Sen. Sam Searcy posted on Twitter. His sister Sara Thompson works at the McDowell site.
“We’ve definitely started to see an increase in COVID numbers,” Thompson said in a phone interview. “This wave is coming much sooner than I think all the officials anticipated. I knew this week would be busy. I did not think it would be as busy as it is.”
She said people who have very mild symptoms — sore throat, runny nose or mild fatigue — are testing positive.
“Yesterday, it was rapid after rapid coming back positive,” Thompson said. “It was pretty eye-opening.”
She encouraged others to take precautions as the virus continues to spread.
“In many areas across North Carolina, you go to the grocery store and no one’s wearing a mask. I think a lot of people have let their guard down,” Thompson said. “Start wearing your mask again. You’re wearing your mask to protect other people, because unless you’re testing every single day, you have no idea if you’re positive.”
She implored people to get vaccinated if they’re not already, while also voicing frustration when others don’t take the necessary precautions to prevent spread.
“I kind of understand. We’ve been dealing with this for — we’re coming up on two years,” Thompson said. “But just having seen all that I’ve seen throughout this pandemic, it just goes back to the frustration of people just not caring for others enough to just put a mask on and just be safe.”
Biden’s call to governors
On Monday, President Joe Biden told governors that omicron should be a source of concern, but not a source of panic. Unlike March 2020 when the pandemic started, they are prepared and know “what it takes to save lives, protect people and keep schools and businesses open,” Biden said during a COVID-19 briefing with the National Governors Association, which included North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
“We just have to stay focused and continue to work together. My message to the governors is simple: If you need something, say something — and we — we’re going to have your back in any way we can,” Biden said.
Biden said that “seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows that we have more work to do, and we’re doing it.”
The president later told White House reporters that he did not hear any complaints from governors, according to the pool report.
Cooper spokesperson Mary Scott Winstead told The News & Observer via email on Monday that the governor “appreciated the opportunity to hear from the president on federal efforts to combat the omicron variant, particularly plans for additional COVID tests and new treatments anticipated to be approved and available in limited supply in the near future.”
She said Cooper “looks forward to more details about supply and distribution plans in the coming weeks.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 12:31 PM.
CORRECTION: Sam Searcy is a former North Carolina state senator.
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