Fayetteville, NC – Cumberland County has sneaked into the “red zone” to spread the coronavirus, prompting county officials to call Wednesday for people to rethink Christmas and New Year celebrations.
“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 it’s not a normal holiday season. We need to continue to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
North Carolina last month established a three-tier county alert system to show where the pandemic was worst. The system combines the rate of new infections, the percentage of positive virus tests, 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 has reported 660 infections per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks and a positive rate of 13.1% in tests during that time.
COVID-19 County Alert System
Cumberland County had been an “orange zone” in previous updates.
County Health Director Dr. Jennifer Green said more than 1,200 tests have tested positive over the past seven days, exceeding the county’s ability to track contacts.
Cape Fear Valley Medical Center has the capacity of the emergency department to manage the entry of patients: the hospital recently installed tents in its parking lot for additional capacity – But that could change quickly, he said.
Green encouraged local churches to reduce Christmas and other religious services this year.
“We need people to do their holiday services practically this year (New Year’s Eve, Watchnight services) to do it practically. Especially for those at high risk, we need you to stay home. That.” she said.
Health department staff received their first coronavirus vaccines on Wednesday so they could start going to 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 has been the hardest hit during this pandemic. It is very important that we go out and get vaccinated,” he said.