Mass COVID-19 testing on Ocracoke canceled due to staffing issue

FILE – This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. On Tuesday, April 21, 2020, U.S. health regulators OK’d the first coronavirus test that allows people to collect their own sample at home, a new approach that could help expand testing options in most states. The sample will still have to be shipped for processing back to LabCorp, which operates diagnostic labs throughout the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)

by: WAVY Web Staff

Posted: Jul 29, 2020 / 02:11 PM MDT

Updated: Jul 29, 2020 / 02:11 PM MDT

OCRACOKE, N.C. (WAVY) — A COVID-19 mass testing event scheduled for Thursday on Ocracoke has been canceled due to staffing issues.

MakoMedical Laboratories, Inc. contacted the Hyde County Health Department on Wednesday to report the staffing issue. The health department says a make-up date is being negotiated, but a date has not been set.

“Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience. Unfortunately, this situation is beyond Health Department control,” the department wrote in a release. Hyde County is reporting 37 cumulative cases overall as of Wednesday, July 29.

For more information from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, click here.