NHC COVID positivity rate dropping, still higher than state’s percentage

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - With positivity rates heading in the right direction, health officials say it’s not quite time to let off the brakes.

New Hanover County has a positivity rate of 21.1% while the state is at 12.5%.

“[It’s] certainly an improvement compared to just a few weeks ago where we were seeing numbers in the 30s, I think one day we even tipped to a 42% positivity percentage, so overall yes, our percent positive has improved,” said New Hanover County’s Pandemic Operations Manager Jon Campbell. “It’s important to note, though, that individuals are still getting sick with COVID, individuals are still being hospitalized, and unfortunately individuals are succumbing to COVID ultimately; but thankfully, things are looking a little bit better in regards to the current global overview.”

On Tuesday Campbell says about 18% of PCR tests in New Hanover County came back positive.

“Total case numbers and positive percentage are less than they were a month ago,” Campbell said.

The county opened a new testing site on Wednesday. About 30 people made appointments to get tested and some of those tests came back positive. While there is still an interest in testing, there’s been more people getting vaccinated, too.

“We are still seeing increased interest in individuals getting vaccinated. We are not vaccinating as many [people] as we did when the vaccine first came out, but just yesterday we still had a handful of folks come in. It was their first vaccine for the primary dose and they just said they had some hesitation, they wanted to wait some time to make sure that the vaccine was effective, they had done some additional research and made the decision to come get vaccinated,” Campbell said.

Campbell hopes that everyone continues to play their part in wearing masks, educating themselves, and getting vaccinated or boosted.

“Please be aware of your surroundings. If you have upcoming family plans, if you’re not feeling well, go ahead and get a test to make sure that it isn’t COVID before you link up with family or go on vacation. If you’re eligible to receive a booster, please consider getting a booster. If you’ve been hesitant and haven’t completed a primary vaccination series, go ahead and consider getting that done,” Campbell said.

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