Families of Clay County Care Center can collectively breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now. Th second facility-wide testing since the COVID-19 outbreak revealed no positive cases among the 172 residents and staff members.
“We were able to confirm later yesterday that based on the laboratory confirmed PCR test results and clinical times for the isolation period the Clay County Care Center is COVID-19 free at this time,” said Stephanie Johnson, director of the Clay County Health Department. “
Testing was conducted several days ago after the health department received confirmation of a positive COVID-19 test for a resident at the Clay County Care Center. The individual is has been in isolation at a local hospital.
“The CCCC staff were a pleasure to work with, and it is truly a wonderful partnership that we have with their group,” she said. “We are thankful for the outpouring of love and support from the CCCC residents and their families that were demonstrated during both testing outreaches.”
County-wide there has been a slight uptick in the number of positive cases. Of the 589 tests conducted, 41 came back positive. The health department reported on Tuesday that 15 of those had recovered; however, 39 results are still pending leaving our total active cases standing at 26.
“We have seen an increase in positives over the last week and a half, but those are showing to be pre-operatory screens and contact tracing from a known positive case. A large majority are displaying no-to-mild symptoms,” Johnson said. “We are blessed to report that Clay County has had zero COVID-19 related deaths.”
When asked if they were getting more requests from individuals since there is no doctor’s order required for a test now, Johnson hasn’t seen an influx of requests.
“We have had very little personal requests for testing in terms of someone just being ‘curious’ of their status,” she said. “In reviewing our screening reports from our confirmed positive tests, only one individual was identified for being tested under this reason. All others were doctors orders.”