CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A WCNC Charlotte Defenders investigation is raising questions about new testing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It comes as testing becomes a key part of Governor Roy Cooper’s plan to reopen North Carolina, which could enter Phase 2 at the end of the week.
The new CDC website shows the number of tests completed in the U.S and for each state, but WCNC Charlotte found there are major discrepancies between what the Carolinas are reporting and the CDC.
The Defenders team found there is a difference of tens of thousands of tests between what North Carolina is reporting and the CDC. It's an important issue as the state begins to open up, so WCNC Charlotte wanted to look at why there’s a discrepancy.
“Our Phase 1 executive order runs through this Friday,” said Governor Cooper during a news conference Monday.
Cooper emphasized the importance of testing as the state begins to reopen.
“We’ll ease restrictions and move to Phase 2 only if we’re headed in the right direction with our data,” said Governor Cooper.
As testing across the state increases, CDC data shows how North Carolina compares to other states when it comes to testing. As of noon Monday, North Carolina reported nearly 256,000 total tests completed, but the CDC data showed only about 151,000 tests done in the state; a discrepancy of more than 100,000.
Cooper says the state is moving in the right direction for testing.
“We continued to push for increased testing throughout the state and we are succeeding, but even more testing is critical,” said Governor Cooper.
There’s also a discrepancy between the numbers from South Carolina and the CDC, although not as large as with North Carolina. As of noon Monday, South Carolina reported nearly 128,000 tests were completed, but the CDC’s website showing about 98,000 tests were done in the state; a discrepancy of about 30,000 tests.
The CDC data also shows the percentage of positive tests for each state. For South Carolina, between 6-10% of the tests were positive, according to the CDC. For North Carolina, between 11-20% of the cases were positive, the CDC numbers showed. However, North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen provided a different number for positive tests on Monday.
“Fortunately, that (rate of positive tests) has remained stable at about 7%, which is in line with our target,” Secretary Cohen said.
There is a disclaimer on the CDC’s website saying the data does not represent counts from the three most recent days. However, given the difference of tens of thousands of tests, WCNC Charlotte asked the CDC if the data still paints an accurate comparison between states. At this point, the CDC has not responded.
According to CDC data, North Carolina ranks 22nd for total number of completed tests and South Carolina ranks 30th. Here’s the link to the CDC data about testing in the U.S. : https://www.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/