A blustery winter storm caused thousands of outages Monday morning, shutting down at least three COVID-19 testing sites in Wake County.
A North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told the INDY “high winds and inclement weather” caused three MAKO Medical testing sites—located at PNC Arena and Word of God Church in Raleigh, and Five County Stadium in Zebulon—to close unexpectedly.
“MAKO is in the process of going to each car in line at the sites to ensure those individuals received testing services,” DHHS officials said.
Elsewhere, long lines blocked streets near the Kidd Road testing site as residents waited for hours to get tested.
The closures come amidst an unprecedented post-holiday surge in the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, North Carolina reported its largest spike in cases to date, with more than 19,000 cases reported. While the number of new cases dropped to about 13,000 Monday, the percentage of positive tests climbed to more than 27 percent. About 2,700 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state.
The Omicron variant has proven to be more contagious, but less severe in some cases than previous strains, according to recent reports. The CDC currently advises that those testing positive for the strain “should isolate for 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), follow that by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. “
Officials expect all testing sites to reopen Tuesday. To sign up for at test in Wake County, click here.
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Follow Senior Staff Writer Leigh Tauss on Twitter or send an email to ltauss@indyweek.com.
