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From Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health

Over the last several months, the State Laboratory of Public Health and private testing labs have increased their capacity to test for COVID-19. As of May 22, there have been 303,224 completed tests for COVID-19 performed in North Carolina. These tests have been done by health departments, private offices, Federally Qualified Health Centers, hospitals, and other partners. The number of completed tests since testing began in March represents approximately 2.9% of the population of North Carolina.

As the capacity to test has increased, North Carolina is moving towards a goal of testing 5% of the population each month. In order to meet this goal, guidelines for testing have been adjusted and there has been an effort to open more testing sites around the state.

COVID-19 has symptoms similar to the flu. They include fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and the loss of taste or smell. If you have mild symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you stay

at home and contact your provider if you need medical advice or guidance on testing. If you do not have insurance and you need medical care, call your nearest Federally Qualified Health Center or the Health Department.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has published a list of statewide testing sites. If you think you need a test to determine if you have COVID-19, contact the local office on this list or your local healthcare provider and share your symptoms. You can find the list of sites at:

https://files.nc.gov/covid/documents/about/testing/collection-sites.pdf

The Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department tests for COVID-19 at the following locations:

 Martin County Health Center: 210 West Liberty Street, Williamston, NC 27892

 Washington County Health Center: 198 NC Highway 45 North, Plymouth, NC

27962 (behind Pines Elementary School)

 Tyrrell County Health Center: 408 Bridge Street, Columbia, NC 27925

 

Call 252-793-3023 to schedule an appointment. Patients will be evaluated by a provider to determine if a test is recommended.

The State of North Carolina and the Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department report the total number of positive COVID-19 cases, the total number of Recovered Cases, the total number of deaths related to COVID-19, and the number of active cases for our county. We continue to emphasize that many people with COVID-19 may not be included in these case counts – including the following groups:

 People who do not feel sick

 People who had symptoms but did not seek care or testing and who “self- quarantined”

 People who sought care but may have been recommended by their provider to self- quarantine or they did not meet current CDC guidelines for testing

 People with COVID-19 that was not detected by the coronavirus test

“COVID-19 positive tests give us an incomplete view of the true rate of infections or spread of COVID-19 in North Carolina and in our District. As we move into Phase 2 of reopening, it is crucial that we continue to practice good social distancing measures until we see a downward trend in new cases of the virus,” says Wes Gray, Health Director.

Visit www.mtwdistricthealth.org for the latest inform