In all of the holiday bustle, businesspeople nationwide are finding time to celebrate the season with their families, friends and loved ones. 

But along with the celebrations comes some caution from those concerned about the spread of COVID-19. 

The New York Times has been tracking COVID numbers across the nation and regularly gathers numbers from the CDC and other health organizations to report an accurate COVID heatmap and case count. According to their data on Dec. 7, Cumberland County is seeing approximately 101 COVID cases a day. Harnett County is seeing about 30 cases per day, and Hoke County is seeing approximately 15 cases per day. 

In Cumberland County, 59 percent of citizens are vaccinated. Thirty-one percent of Hoke residents are vaccinated and 36 percent of Harnett residents are vaccinated. 

The risk for unvaccinated people based on cases and test positivity is considered to be extremely high risk in Cumberland County, very high risk in Hoke County and very high risk in Harnett County. 

A few new testing sites for COVID have opened up in Cumberland County. One of the newest sites is by Ameritech Diagnostics Laboratories, PLLC, a lab based in Clayton. “We’re trying to cover as much in North Carolina as we can. Fayetteville, we have a testing site in Wilmington, we have one in Clayton, we’re looking into the mountains… We’re all just kind of waiting to see where this pandemic is going,” Holly DeBeck, Director of Marketing and Sales with Ameritech Diagnostics Laboratories, PLLC, said. 

The lab already had a site set up at 726 Ramsey Street and at the Crown Complex, and it recently established another location in Hope Mills, which offers PCR COVID tests with a 24-48 hour turnaround time, although the turnaround has been closer to a 24-hour time frame. 

As a new and less invasive way of testing, Ameritech will be offering saliva tests or nasal swab tests at all of their local sites. 

“We’re able to extract DNA from that,” DeBeck said. The turnaround time on a saliva test is the same for a nasal swab. 

Ameritech is also offering concierge services that can be utilized by business, churches, events, the homebound and more. 

“We can also offer some rapid testing for people that have to have proof of a negative test if they’re going to an event,” DeBeck said. For events, such as those that go through Live Nation, a vaccination card is required indicating that you are fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated status means that someone has been fully vaccinated for two weeks. If you’ve received a partial dose, a negative test within 72 hours is required to attend those events. 

DeBeck says she personally prefers a PCR where possible. “If you go get a test done by 4 o’clock, you get the results the next day by say, 12-2 o’clock in the afternoon,” DeBeck said. 

The PCR tests are free, as they are covered by all insurance companies, Medicaid and the CARES Act. The 10-minute rapid test has a minimal fee. 

The Crown location is near the main box office. 

“We just try to make it very, very community friendly and accessible,” DeBeck said. “This is all about getting the community healthy.” 

The new Hope Mills location is in Village Shopping Center, located at 3020 N. Main Street, Hope Mills. Rapid testing is available at the Hope Mills site on a regular basis and at the other sites upon request. The sites are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Concierge services can be reached on the weekends at 919-243-1831. 

StarMed Healthcare, based in Raleigh, is another one of the healthcare companies that has opened a COVID-19 care site, this one at 6917 Raeford Road. It provide vaccines, testing and the administration of COVID-19 antibody therapy doses. Free of cost, StarMed will offer Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson shots. They perform both PCR and rapid tests by nasal swab, which is also free of cost. Both services are available for people of all ages. 

For people over 12, antibody therapy is available and free. Although the treatment is not intended to be used as a replacement for the vaccine, it can be used to shorten the severity of symptoms in people who are exhibiting COVID symptoms and decrease the chance of hospitalization.