New Hanover County expands COVID testing, gets donation of 10,000 antibody test kits

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County leaders announced they will let the county’s additional Coronavirus restrictions expire on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

During an update Monday morning, County Commission Chair Julia Olson-Boseman said the measures we’ve been taking are working, but we still have work to do.

“It’s clear from state and local information, our actions have kept us ahead of the curve from the impact of COVID-19,” Boseman said.

Once the county restrictions expire, it will follow the guidelines of the Governor’s state order.

“Restaurants in the county, beginning April 29th at 5 p.m., will be able to offer carry out food service, in addition to delivery and curbside pickup,” Boseman said. “The county’s public gardens, basketball courts and volleyball courts will also be open.”

The landfill will also reopen to the public Thursday morning.

Boseman says people still must abide by social distancing guidelines in public and stay in groups of 10 or less.

She also reminds everyone, while the county restrictions will expire on beaches, hotels, motels and short-term rentals, it’s now up to each municipality to issue their own guidelines.

“As these local mitigation measures are lifted, it will be even more important for every single person to be vigilant,” she said.

As restrictions are lifted, Boseman says testing and tracing will become even more important to monitor the spread of the virus.

“This virus is still in our community, so I don’t want people to mistake lifting some of these restrictions to mean we are in the clear,” she said.

With the emphasis on testing and tracing, county leaders also announced Monday morning they are expanding testing throughout the county.

Over the next few weeks, the county will be able to test around 2,400 residents for COVID-19. Not only that, but the county received a donation of 5,000 N-95 masks and 10,000 antibody test kits to take tracing even further.

“New Hanover County is certainly leading the way by offering this to our community,” Public Health Preparedness Coordinator Lisa Brown said.

County leaders say New Hanover county is leading the way for the entire state with these new testing measures.

“This is the most extensive and aggressive testing effort we are aware of by any county in North Carolina,” Boseman said.

The Coronavirus Call Center opened Monday morning and will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 pm. for residents to call and get a pre-screening. The number for the call center is 910-798-6800.

Brown says you’ll be asked a series of questions about your symptoms, and from there, health officials will schedule an appointment for you at the drive-thru testing site starting Wednesday. The testing site will be open through May 22.

The testing site will be open at the Schwartz Center in downtown Wilmington. As of around 11 a.m. Monday, officials say they’ve scheduled 31 appointments for drive-thru testing.

Brown says testing will be free of charge, and residents do not need to have insurance to get tested.

“This lack of visibility about where the virus is and isn’t limits our ability to follow up with contact tracing when needed,” Brown said.

Brown says the expanded testing will allow them to do more contact tracing if and when people do test positive.

The 10,000 antibody test kits come in addition to the expanded COVID testing. Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo says the donation came from an anonymous person in the community.

“This is all hands on deck,” Saffo said. “An unprecedented response to an unprecedented time it’s why our community is faring better than so many others right now.”

Brown says antibody testing can help them figure out if someone had COVID-19 and wasn’t tested, or didn’t show symptoms.

“Public Health plans to offer the use of those antibody tests first on our current lab-confirmed positives,” Browns said. “This will help us to know if they’ve developed the antibodies to COVID-19 before we move to that next step of broader testing.”

With this whole expansion, doctors say we’re ready for what’s to come.

“We’re confident now that our capacities are there. We are ready for a surge, although we don’t want to see a surge,” NHRMC’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. West Paul said.