CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — The Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA) says it is investigating outbreaks of COVID-19, in which at least 18 people were infected, after Cabarrus County residents held gatherings over the past two weeks.
The gatherings included a wedding, birthday parties, and an Easter celebration, according to the CHA.
Erin Shoe, Chief Operating Officer at CHA says, in most cases, the number of attendees was less than 10 which emphasizes the point that people should follow the recommended guidelines.
“Less than 10 isn’t some magic number that prevents the spread of the virus,” Shoe said. “There’s a reason for the Stay-At-Home Proclamation (put into effect by the County and municipalities on March 26 and revised on March 31), and there are real, consequential effects of not following that order and socializing and interacting in groups outside your family nucleus.”
Clinical investigators say these types of gatherings are a concerning trend.
“One of the most frustrating things for our new positive cases is that they tell us ‘yeah, I had a party this weekend’ or ‘I had a get-together this weekend,’ ” said Dr. Natasha Mofrad, a member of the CHA’s clinical investigation team. “Some people are feeling more comfortable and they are starting to have small gatherings, and then we’re seeing many people (at those gatherings) getting sick.”
The Clinical investigators are responsible for contacting the person who tested positive to determine when the illness began, as well as the patients travel and activities before the showed symptoms.
“We’re going to ask you about all your household members, their names, their dates of birth, their relationship to you and the last date you’ve been around them and then we’re also going to do that same thing with close contacts,” Shoe said.
Once this information is collected, the investigators begin contact tracing.
As they conduct contact tracing, investigators try to identify and notify “close contacts” of the positive case, which means anybody within six feet of the subject for more than 10 minutes in the two days prior to the beginning of symptoms.
The investigators make sure the “close contacts” aren’t developing symptoms and issues quarantine orders to make sure they’re staying home to prevent the spread, said Dr. Elly Steel, another member of the clinical investigation team.
The team has identified 35 close contacts associated with the four recent gatherings, and placed those contracts under a 14-day quarantine.
Another recent concern in Cabarrus County involves essential workers going to work sick, which can lead to large outbreaks. Out of the positive cases from the four gatherings, six are now out of work, and most of those are essential workers.
Dr. Steel says, “We’ve seen people who were in close quarters with co-workers on Wednesday and no one starts having symptoms until Friday, and then all of them are quarantined and stuck at home for two weeks, even though they are doing essential jobs.”
“It’s better to send a few employees home sick for two weeks than it is to send the whole department home for that long,” according to Dr. Mofrad.
“Cabarrus residents should remain vigilant about following all the recommended guidelines, says Dr, Shoe.” And that doesn’t just mean having less than 10 people at a gathering. It means staying home. It means wearing masks in public. It means social distancing regardless of where you are.”
