May 15, 2020
Media Contact: Jon Richardson, 757-302-4271
Eastern Shore Health District Announces Results from May 8-9 Testing Clinic
(Accomac, Va.) – The Eastern Shore Health District is reporting results of the mass testing clinic conducted at Eastern Shore Community College on May 8-9, 2020. A total of 1380 individuals were tested over the two days. Of those tested, 49 were positive, 1290 were negative and 41 were inconclusive/invalid. During peak testing times, 120 people per hour were tested. We are contacting all the positive cases to let them know their results and provide them with instructions on isolation. We have attempted contact with all positive patients as of this release. We will begin contacting those with negative results starting Monday. The last of the community testing results should appear in the count on the state website tomorrow.
In addition, we have received reporting of approximately 2875 results out of an expected 3100 conducted at the poultry plants last week. That testing has revealed an approximate 18% positive rate with a total positive count of roughly 510. The majority of these cases will not appear in the case counts on the VDH website for several days. The labs that processed the tests are not connected to VDH electronic reporting and each result will have to be entered manually into the database to be counted. In addition, some of the positive cases do not reside in Virginia. As of today, about 85 of the 510 results mentioned above are reflected in the case count for Accomack and Northampton counties.
Eastern Shore Health District has a public information line, 757-787-5880, for questions from residents about the novel coronavirus situation.
To lower the risk of respiratory germ spread, including COVID-19, the Virginia Department of Health encourages the following effective behaviors:
- Practice social distancing. Maintain at least 6 feet of space between yourself and other individuals when out in public.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer only if soap and water are not available.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- Stay home when you are sick and avoid contact with sick people.
- Wearing a non-surgical mask covering your mouth and nose could help prevent a sick person, exhibiting no symptoms, from accidentally infecting others.
- Avoid non-essential travel.
- Elderly and those at-risk should continue to stay at home as much as possible; if not possible, avoid large gatherings.
Information is being shared as it becomes available on the following websites: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus or www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/.