Fayetteville, NC – Cumberland County has sneaked into the “red zone” to spread the coronavirus, prompting county officials to call Wednesday for people to rethink the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“We know you’re tired of the pandemic, and we want things back to normal,” Charles Evans, chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, told a news conference. “But this is not a normal holiday season. We must continue to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Last month, North Carolina created a three-tier county alert system to show where the worst pandemic was. The system combines the rate of new infections, the percentage of positive tests on the virus and the strain felt by local hospitals to determine the level for each county: red for critical viral spread, orange for substantial spread and yellow for significant spread.
Sixty-five of the 100 counties, including Cumberland County, were considered red zones when state officials updated the map on Tuesday. The county reported 660 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks and a positive rate of 13.1 percent on tests since then.
COVID-19 county alert system
Cumberland County had been an “orange zone” in previous updates.
The county’s health director, Dr. Jennifer Green, said that more than 1,200 tests have returned positive in the last seven days, exceeding the county’s ability to track contacts.
Cape Fear Valley Medical Center has the capacity in its emergency department to manage the flow of patients – the hospital recently installed tents in its parking lot for extra capacity – but that could change quickly, she said.
Green has encouraged local churches to reduce Christmas and other religious services this year.
“We need people to do their holiday services practically this year – your New Year’s Eve, your Eve services – to do them practically. Especially for those at high risk, we need you to stay home. We need our faithful leaders to take over this leadership, “she said.
Health department staff received the first coronavirus vaccines on Wednesday so they can begin entering the community and inoculating others.
Green, who is black, said she was vaccinated to encourage members of the minority community to do the same.
“We know that our African-American community was the hardest hit during this pandemic. It is extremely important that we go out and get vaccinated,” she said.