VIEW COVID-19 CASE MAP (NCDHHS)
The Lee County Health Department confirmed the county’s ninth positive COVID-19 case Saturday afternoon, the fifth confirmed case reported in the past 30 hours after only four cases reported in first month of tracking.
According to the county, no additional information about the person will be released.
Of the now nine cases confirmed in Lee County, one individual is recovered and has resumed normal activities and eight cases continue to be monitored. At this time, there have been no deaths reported in Lee County attributed to COVID-19.
While the past two days are cause for concern locally, Lee County is still well behind its surrounding counties in terms of confirmed cases and cases per 10,000 people. Harnett and Chatham counties have 38 and 37 reported cases, respectively, and Moore County has 84 cases (many of them attributed to an outbreak at a nursing home in Pinehurst). Ninety-two of North Carolina’s 100 counties have reported at least one case, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
According to the Lee County Health Department, officials are conducting contact tracing on positive cases and will notify individuals identified as having had close contact with the patient; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as an individual who has been within six feet of the patient for 10 minutes or more.
Also from the county: The public is encouraged to continue following the guidelines and recommendations provided by the CDC to help prevent and slow the spread of Coronavirus in the community. This includes updated recommendations that individuals should wear a face mask or cloth face covering when out in public. Individuals should also remember to clean and disinfect surfaces thoroughly, wash hands frequently, avoid touching your face with your hands, and maintain safe social distancing protocols of six feet or more when outside of your home.
Contact the Lee County Health Department at (919) 718-4640.
I understand patient privacy. But rather than backtrack possible contacts, it seems to me that disclosing the source of infection(s) would enable the public to determine if they possibly exposed to a particular virus.
Hopefully we will see the number of infections peak this week across the country. Folks should consider grocery shopping during slow customer traffic hours. Also we should consider not traveling outside of Lee County just because of the low number of cases reported here so far. Traveling can greatly increase our exposure to COVID-19.