After breaking records of Covid-19 case counts three days in a row — and topping out at the most yet with 19,630 cases on New Year’s Day — North Carolinians are making a rush to get tested across the state. On New Year’s Eve, 91,000 tests were given in North Carolina amid the surge of the highly transmissible omicron variant.
“Before the holiday, we distributed about 500,000 test kits,” Gov. Roy Cooper confirmed in a press conference Tuesday. “And we are ready to fill other requests.”
The governor said the Biden administration would push out a half-billion more rapid tests, which have been in short supply, to states in the next week or so.
“I think it’s important to remember that these tests are a national, if not an international product,” Kody Kinsley said in his first official press conference as secretary of NC Department of Health and Human Services. The Wilmington native took the oath of office on Jan. 1 following the departure of Dr. Mandy Cohen.
“There’s a lot of supply chain issues as we’re working to secure those,” he added. “I am hopeful to hear from our federal partners that national lab capacity for testing remains in excess of the demand, meaning they’re still supplied for labs.”
Kits for at-home tests can be requested online through the state, in a partnership with Labcorp. Cooper said in a call with the White House team earlier in the day, he learned two more rapid tests have been cleared.
“That will make 15 or so of them now that have been authorized by the FDA,” the governor said. “[T]hat will help put millions more tests on the market for people.”
North Carolina has upped free community testing events, especially in the Triad and Piedmont counties, over the last week. A tool on the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services website allows individuals to find free community testing events. Though none are available currently in the tri-county region, events are listed in Bladen, Duplin and Onslow counties in the coming days.
The website also offers an option to find pharmacies, urgent cares, physician’s offices, labs, and health departments that are accepting testing appointments.
The percent of tests returning positive results is at its peak statewide at almost 30% — six times that of health officials’ goal to remain around 5%. The state lab sequences variants, as does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Kinsley said is showing an 80% return in the omicron variant in North Carolina.
The CDC first reported omicron was the dominant variant on Dec. 18, noting it made up 73% of cases, before clarifying a week later it was actually 22% at that time. By Dec. 25, omicron had trekked up to 58% of cases and by Tuesday, Jan. 4, it was crowding out other variants, accounting for 95% of cases nationwide, CDC reported.
The variant is believed to infect the upper respiratory tract rather than “go deep into your lungs,” according to Dr. Susan Kansagra, who also took questions during the governor’s NC Coronavirus Task Force briefing. As more data is culled on the variant, Kansagra — acting senior deputy director for division of public health at NCDHHS — assured tests out now are efficient at detecting omicron, despite a study out of South Africa suggesting omicron is more discernible through a saliva swab from the mouth than the nasal cavity.
“[W]e are continuing to get more information on it, but the tests that we have right now, we are also seeing that they are effective,” Kansagra said.
Officials maintained vaccinations and getting boosted are the best ways to remain protected against severe illness and hospitalization when it comes to Covid-19. Statewide, there are 3,008 hospitalizations with 603 patients in ICU. Kinsley noted 87% of the hospitalizations, specifically those in intensive care, are unvaccinated individuals.
Vaccines have been authorized for ages 5 and up, with the CDC signing off on a Pfizer booster for ages 12 to 15 on Jan. 3. Boosters have already been OK’d for older age groups, and the CDC reduced the time people fully vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer must wait before receiving a booster, urging patients to seek another shot five instead of six months after their last dose.
“And we’re going to hear tomorrow whether CDC is recommending boosters for 5- to 12-year-olds,” Kansagra said. “The younger age group, from six months, we know there are studies happening now to look at possible vaccination recommendations for that age group. Until then, we have existing other tools at work, masking being one.”
Layered strategies — vaccinations, boosters, testing, masking — are the key to fighting the pandemic at this point and protecting children, according to the task force. The governor and Kinsley said layered masks or surgical-grade masks, such as a KN95s or N95s, are recommended as omicron is six times as contagious as the original Covid-19 strain.
The state urged individuals to make use of some of its free personal protective equipment — including 14 million N95 masks — available for school staff, federally qualified health centers or long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, as well as other vulnerable populations at high-risk exposure.
“I think the right next step for providers or any entity that wants those masks is to go onto our website to make the request,” Kinsley said.
Gov. Cooper also revealed he will extend an executive order requiring state employees of cabinet agencies to prove vaccination status or negative test results. The new order will include boosters in the definition of “fully vaccinated.”
“We know that vaccines and boosters are our way out of this pandemic, but we’re also continuing to strongly recommend masks when you’re in a public place inside and for people to use our common sense,” Cooper said. “We know so much more about this pandemic than we did before, and we’re trying to use all of that knowledge. I believe we can get this virus to the endemic stage, which is what we want to do. We’re going to have to learn how to live with it, and continue to keep our kids in school and our businesses open and all of our government operations running effectively and efficiently.”
Over 14 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered across the state, with 69% of the adult population fully vaccinated. Over 40% have received boosters.
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