As more in NC vaccinated, fewer being tested for coronavirus

The number of people tested for coronavirus in North Carolina dropped 30 percent in the last month, according to state data.

Posted 12:32 a.m. Mar 13, 2021 — Updated 4:09 p.m. Mar 13, 2021

Joe Fisher

, WRAL multimedia journalist

RALEIGH, N.C. — The number of people tested for coronavirus in North Carolina dropped 30 percent in the last month, according to state data.

“We have seen a significant decrease in our testing," said Eugene Chalwe, Wake County's mass testing operations manager, noting a 40 percent drop since December.

“I think people are exhausted of COVID, but also people are excited and preoccupied with vaccines," Chalwe said.

At its peak, the county tested 12,000 people per day. That is now down to 2,500 tests a day.

In early February, about 49,116 people were tested daily statewide, with about 7 percent of tests returning positive for the virus. In the last week, the daily average of tests was down to 34,470, with fewer than 5 percent positive.

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“If we reduce significantly our testing, that [positive rate] number will be suppressed, and it will not give us a true picture of what is going on in the county or even in the state,” Chalwe said.

Community testing will continue at least through April, he said. The county offers tests at nine locations, some of which have been in operation for months. Other testing sites are rotated to different parts of the county, such as Biltmore Hills Park in Raleigh, White Deer Park in Garner and Fred Bond Park in Cary next week.

Even people who have already been vaccinated should continue getting tested, Chalwe said, because they can be carriers of the virus.

"Even as things open up a little more, we should maintain the same vigilance," he said. "It took a lot of hard work to get to this point, and we can just easily lose it in a matter of weeks.”

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