Duplin County issued the following announcement on May 29.
With increase testing access comes the possibility of identifying more positive individuals, especially those who are asymptomatic. Over the last several weeks, Duplin County has worked to expand COVID-19 testing and contact tracing efforts for the citizens as part of North Carolina’s coordinated testing action plan.
Duplin County’s total number of laboratory confirmed positive COVID-19 cases has increased to 756 residents. Of those confirmed positive cases, 355 of them have met clinical criteria to be released from isolation.
Duplin County has had two additional deaths, bringing the county’s total to 18 fatalities related to COVID-19. Of the two most recent fatalities, one of the decedents was in the age range of 25-49 and the other decedent was older than 65. To protect the families’ privacy, no further information about the individuals will be released.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) interim guidelines for collecting and testing for COVID-19 includes five different diagnostic acceptable specimen collections. Of those, the three most common specimen collections performed in Duplin County have been nasopharyngeal (NP), oropharyngeal (OP), and anterior nares. Additional information about collection and testing for COVID-19 can be reviewed on the CDC’s webpage at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/guidelines-clinical-specimens.html.
Duplin County will hold a Third COVID-19 Diagnostic Drive-Thru testing event on June 3, 2020, from 4pm-8pm at the Duplin Events Center. The drive-thru testing is open to all Duplin County residents, but pre-registration is required for this anterior nares specimen collection event. To schedule an appointment, Duplin County residents should call 910-267-2044.
Additional information can be reviewed on North Carolina’s DHHS COVID-19 Response’s webpage at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/. A telephone line dedicated to COVID-19 questions has been established at the Health Department: 910-296-2130 ext. 8160. No medical advice or assessments will be given from this phone line.
Original source can be found here.
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