Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) spoke to ABC11 last Wednesday to discuss the letter he sent to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) requesting it release daily county-by-county testing and confirmed case data.
Speaker Moore also requested DHHS publish information on underlying health conditions related to COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations.
“More robust and in-depth data on daily testing by county — including all key metrics as well as confirmed cases — is also needed to provide more actionable information on the spread of the virus,” Speaker Moore wrote in the letter.“I request that your administration begin to provide more detailed daily testing data by county as soon as possible.”
Speaker Moore discussed the request with Samantha Kummerer of ABC11.
“The thought is if you get this data out there and you share it, you empower those local county health departments to be better informed in terms of making policies for the counties,” Moore said during the interview.“You allow the citizens who are trying to live their lives and know what is it safe to do to have that information and those of us as policymakers need it so as we are passing laws and getting resources deployed that we know that as well.”“I also don’t think it necessarily needs to be a one-size fits all.”“What’s necessary for say Durham or Raleigh or Charlotte, any of our urban areas is not necessarily what you need in Dare County or up in the mountains in Graham County or other places that are rural and have little to no cases.”“Our rural residents deserve equal access to testing – and if the facts permit, a speedier return to normalcy. I request that less populated counties not be grouped into regions with major metropolitan communities as we transition to a local approach,” Moore also wrote in the letter.