Memorial Day weekend may very well be a holiday, however, a new stat from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) showed that COVID-19 hasn’t been taking any days off when it comes to spreading in the state. On Saturday, May 23, the department reported that North Carolina had just experienced its highest one-day number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases – 1,107 in all.
This week, North Carolinians and businesses across the state have continued the gradual and phased reopening, and citizens and government officials alike have been hoping to see the coronavirus numbers go down.
In the Saturday press release regarding the new all-time high of positives, NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said this should be a reminder to everyone to continue taking the precautions health officials have been stressing for over two months now.
“This is a notable and concerning increase,” Cohen stated of the 1,107 coronavirus confirmations. “As we head into a holiday weekend, please practice the three W’s – wear a face covering, wait six feet apart, and wash your hands frequently. When it comes to our health, we need to work together to protect our families, friends and neighbors.”
According to the NCDHHS, 10 percent of the total tests were positive among the labs that report both negative and positive tests into the state’s electronic tracking system.
The state’s epidemiologists are analyzing the data to determine if any significant contributing factors can be found.
One thing that’s no doubt driving up the number is the fact that testing has become more ubiquitous. Guilford County, for instance, has begun offering coronavirus tests to a wide variety of people who are at risk of complications from the disease – even if they don’t have symptoms and haven’t been exposed to someone who’s tested positive for COVID-19.
Duh, if you test one hundred people and 10% are positive, then it stands to reason testing one thousand people would show an increase in positive results. The virus masochists just love to quote this increase as proof they are “right.”
Test fifty percent more people and you’ll probably find fifty percent more cases of it. That shouldn’t be difficult to understand.
If you increase the number of tests every day, the number of cases will go up every day. This number is meaningless.
The only number that is a clear indication of increased prevalence now is NUMBER OF DEATHS. If that goes up consistently, the problem is truly getting worse.
Note; I’m a qualified MPH epidemiologist who is horrified at the current misuse and distortion of data
Doesn’t the virus take an incubation period? Very much a coincidence this just happened to be the highest case day. Mmm.