​Coronavirus Update: Wake County COVID-19 Cases At 15

From the Wake County Government:

Posted by Stephen R. Walston on 3/16/2020

Note: We want to share important information with you as
efficiently as possible. Going forward, we will combine all COVID-19-related
updates into one news release each day. This news release will be emailed to
you around 5 p.m. We will send additional news releases in some circumstances.

The Wake County Public Health Division is investigating one
new positive case of COVID-19. This brings the total number of positive cases
in Wake County to 15.

Using contact tracing, the county is working to confirm who
may have come in close contact with the affected person and what their risk of
exposure might be. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines
“close contact” as being within six feet of the patient for 10 minutes or more.

“Our public health team is working to create a
timeline for this resident, so we know where they went and when,” said Wake
County Medical Director Dr. Kim McDonald. “Once we have that information, we
can evaluate the level of risk of those who came in close contact with them.”

Testing by the NumbersProviding an accurate number of tests taken at
any given time is challenging, because sample are processed by multiple
laboratories, including the State Laboratory of Public Health, LabCorp and UNC.
Other locations may come online in the future.

The county doesn’t have access to the number of
tests LabCorp is processing each day, but does track samples submitted to the
State Lab. However, in both cases, positive results are reported to the local
Public Health Division.

“We understand that the public wants to know
what our testing picture looks like,” said Dr. McDonald. “Although it’s
challenging to provide accurate point-in-time figures for the number of tests
in process and the number of tests completed daily, we’re committed to sharing
the best information available to help our residents better understand the
situation and our response efforts.”

As of March 16 at 3 p.m., Wake County Public
Health has submitted 65 tests for coronavirus, and has received 44 back. Of
those, 15 were positive and 29 were negative for COVID-19. The county is still
waiting on the results of 21 tests.

Media should contact LabCorp for similar numbers from private
sector tests.

Food Distribution SitesWith
the announcement of school closures through at least March 27, many residents
have reached out with concerns about food access options throughout Wake County
during these unprecedented times.

Thanks
to a partnership with Wake County Public Schools, the
North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Wake County Center and local partners, a
plan is now in place to ensure that families will have access to healthy meals
while school is not in session.

Families can visit one of 27 schools and community centers
serving as food distribute sites starting Tuesday, March 17. Volunteers will
hand out food at the curb, and everything will be in safe and sanitized
containers to minimize safety concerns. The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Mobile
Market will offer food to all community members at several locations.

More details are available here.

Social DistancingSocial distancing is a public health strategy
that prevents close contact between people with the aim to reduce opportunities
for disease transmission.

Tactics that people can use to support social
distancing include maintaining six feet of space between each other when in
public and avoiding events with large numbers of people.

The
goal is to slow the spread of COVID-19 so it is contained as much as possible
and there’s less strain on our healthcare system to care for sick people. More
information and further explanation are available here.

Protecting YourselfAlthough your risk of contracting COVID-19 remains low, the county’s public health team encourages you to protect yourself from COVID-19 and any other flu-like illness by following these simple steps:

• Wash your hands.
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Stay away from sick people.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces using regular household cleaning spray or wipes.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue and throw the tissue in the trash.
• Stay home if you’re sick and don’t send sick children to school or childcare.

Staying UpdatedWake County has made it easy for you to stay updated on the latest information about COVID-19.

You can visit our COVID-19 webpage, which has a set of frequently asked questions to educate residents, as well as an email address and phone number that people can use to ask personal health-related questions about COVID-19. The county is also sharing important information on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

This press release was produced by the Wake County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.