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Additional Watauga County Resident Tests Positive for COVID-19, Isolated Outside the State

 An additional Watauga County resident has tested positive for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). This case has known travel history and is recovering. This case is in isolation outside of the state. The local health department staff have identified close contacts who are in quarantine.

This brings the total positive case count to 8 among Watauga County residents. A positive case count for Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga Counties can be found on AppHealthCare’s website.

“We extend our well wishes to this resident and wish them a speedy recovery,” stated Jennifer Greene, Health Director, AppHealthCare.

Additional requirements outlined by Governor Cooper’s Executive Order 131 announced on April 9th will require retail stores to implement new social distancing policies, make earlier COVID-19 guidelines mandatory for nursing homes and issue changes to speed up certain benefit payments to those out of work. A frequently asked questions document for this Executive Order can be found here.

Testing

Based on recommendations issued by the NC Department of Health & Human Services, most people do not need testing for COVID-19. When you leave your home to get tested, you could expose yourself to COVID-19 if you do not already have it. If you do have COVID-19, you can give it to someone else, including people who are high risk. If you are sick and unsure if you should get tested, please call your healthcare provider.

Positive Case Counts

Both at the state and local level, positive cases of COVID-19 are represented and counted in a person’s place of residence. COVID-19 is a required, reportable illness to public health and we work closely with healthcare providers to ensure we are informed of cases. A positive case count on the AppHealthCarewebsite, and will typically be updated once in the afternoon each day.

An increasing positive case count is only part of the picture since most people who become sick can follow the current public health guidelines to call their healthcare provider. In most cases, people who become ill may not be tested and will isolate themselves at home. For these reasons, it is important for people to stay home as much as possible to decrease your chance of infection, and reduce the spread and impact in our community.

NC Department of Health and Human Services Data

The North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services has released expanded data for North Carolina which includes demographics of confirmed positive cases, hospitalization data and personal protective equipment (PPE) requested and received from the Strategic National Stockpile. The data can be foundhere.

AppHealthCare is available and on-call 24/7 to respond to public health emergencies. To reach us, call (828) 264-4995 anytime and follow the prompts. AppHealthCare has set up a COVID-19 hotline at 1+ (828) 795-1970 for information during regular business hours. We will continue to monitor COVID-19 in our community and will work to keep the public informed. Please visit our website for more information –www.AppHealthCare.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Questions from agencies requesting support on COVID-19 response, planning efforts, etc. can contact preparedness@apphealth.com.

Additional Resources

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) website atcdc.gov/coronavirus.

North Carolina resources can be found on the Division of Public Health website atncdhhs.gov/coronavirus. To view the case count for North Carolina, including a county map, pleasevisit the NC DHHS website here.

A COVID-19 toll free helpline has been set up to answer general, non-emergent questions at 1-866-462-3821. To submit questions online, go towww.ncpoisoncontrol.org and select “chat.”