Johnston County health officials announced late-Saturday a second case of coronavirus in Johnston County. The announcement was made at 6:45pm after the State Lab confirmed a resident has tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus).
“This is not unexpected since this case is associated with our initial case as they reside in the same household,” said Johnston County Health Director Dr. Marilyn Pearson. “It’s likely that more individuals will test presumptively positive for the virus.”
Johnston County Public Health is currently creating a timeline of where this case went and when – paying particular attention to places visited when they became symptomatic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people are at highest risk of exposure to COVID-19 when the affected person is showing flu-like symptoms.
The affected person is currently in isolation at home. Officials did not disclose what area of Johnston County the patient is from.
The timeline will help our public health staff determine who is at increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 from this individual.
If you are at increased risk, our public health team will contact you directly. If a member of our team does not contact you and you do not have any symptoms, you do not need to quarantine yourself or take precautions beyond washing your hands, covering your cough, and staying home from school or work if you feel sick.
Although your risk of contracting COVID-19 locally remains low, the county’s public health team encourages you to protect yourself from COVID-19 and any other flu-like illness by following these simple steps:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Don’t touch your eyes, nose and mouth.
- Stay away from sick people.
- Clean and disinfect surfaces – especially ones that are touched frequently – using regular household cleaning spray or wipes.
- Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands.
- Stay home if you’re sick and don’t send sick children to school or childcare.
The best place to find the most up to date information on COVID-19 is on www.ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus. In addition to the website, NCDHHS has established a public health COVID-19 information line for anyone to call with questions at 866-462-3821.
