From: Stephanie Johnson MPH, MBA, Clay County Public Health Director, Clay County Department of Health and Human Services
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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
As a result of the aggressive contact tracing done by health department staff, the third positive COVID-19 case has been determined for Clay County. This individual is doing well in recovery after experiencing only mild symptoms, and has been in isolation since testing on March 24th. It has been determined through contact tracing that they are linked to the index case that attended an event at the Folk School. To protect individual privacy, no further information about this case will be released by the Clay County Health Department.
The Clay County Health Department has been utilizing various laboratories for our residents testing kits based on the criteria that is set forth by the State or by our Medical Director and providers. These laboratories all have been running off of different timelines for results, which we understand can cause anxiety. It is important to remember that regardless of what laboratory we use, everyone that is tested is issued isolation orders until we receive those tests back. When the results are received, we are able to give guidance on if the isolation time period needs to be extended - or if they are released from those orders to resume normal activities. Be mindful, that we are still receiving exponentially more negative test results back than positives, and those positive cases have been mild for our residents. We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends impacted by the passing of our Cherokee County neighbor as a result of complications associated with COVID-19.
The Clay County Health Department regularly updates our county call-in-line 828-389-8052 ext. 110 with information regarding COVID-19 as well, we encourage the public to call or see our Facebook page for up-to-date information. There is an additional local call line for the community at 828-835-4258 that is staffed from 9am-12 and 1pm-4pm. To receive messaging from the State text COVIDNC to 898211