Lines return to testing sites as NC's coronavirus cases increase

The state has added 933 infections a day, on average, over the past week, a 77 percent jump from July 12.

"It sure felt like we were starting to make some progress. With these variants, it’s still a struggle," said Ross Yeager, director of Wake County's Northern Regional Center in Wake Forest, which serves as both a vaccination and testing site.

Yeager and other county officials said they have tested more people in the last few weeks. At the Northern Regional Center site, about 300 people get tested on an average day, and it was almost 600 one day last week.

North Carolina reported that 7.3 percent of tests given Sunday have come back positive – the first time the rate has topped 6 percent in weeks.

"You could get the flu shot and still get the flu, but what ends up happening is, once you get the vaccine, [you have] that level of protection," he said. "If you do get it, it’s going to be much less severe than if you’re unprotected."

"The overall experience generally takes four minutes to get a specimen collected [and] fill out some quick data required by the CARES Act," Rapacz said. "What we are seeing right now in terms of turnaround time is about six to seven hours."

While the test sites are primarily open afternoons and evenings, hours could expand if cases continue to increase.

"I know they are watching day by day to see what the appropriate response is to make sure everybody is safe," Rapacz said.