An Alleghany County resident has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total of identified cases among Alleghany County residents to 7. This case is linked to an ongoing outbreak investigation with a manufacturing facility in Sparta. The local health department staff have identified close contacts who are in quarantine.
AppHealthCare is continuing to work closely with this facility to ensure the health and safety of each employee is priority. An outbreak is defined by 2 or more confirmed cases in a facility.
In order to protect patient privacy and confidentiality, we will not be releasing the name of this facility.
“I am so proud of our public health team who responded quickly and grateful to this facility for their partnership. Though we may have additional cases, our preliminary work seems to have proven helpful in identifying this additional case to hopefully prevent further spread. We continue to urge the community to be vigilant, stay at home to the greatest extent possible and practice prevention measures to protect yourself like wearing a mask or face covering while in public, washing your hands, covering cough and sneeze, and keeping 6 feet of distance or more from others when you have to be out in public,” stated Jennifer Greene, Health Director, AppHealthCare.
If you are experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, please call your healthcare provider or AppHealthCare to discuss your symptoms to determine whether testing would be appropriate.
A cumulative, positive case count for Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga Counties can be found on AppHealthCare’s website. This count reflects confirmed cases in residents of Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga Counties.