ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Health Department announced late Wednesday morning the second lab-confirmed case of COVID-19.
“In this instance, the patient is believed to have contracted COVD-19 from another individual who had travel out of state and was diagnosed with COVID-19,” Dr. Tommy Jarrell, Health and Human Services director, said in a press release. “Furthermore, our second case has not been in Richmond County since prior to exposure and illness.”
Jarrell said the county was notified late Tuesday afternoon.
The first case, involving an individual who is believed to have contracted the virus due to out-of-county work-related travel, was announced Monday morning after the county was notified late Sunday.
The genders of the two patients has not been revealed.
Cases are based on the patient’s residence.
Jarrell said last week that three cases had previously been misattributed to Richmond County which belonged to Montgomery County.
The latest numbers from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services show 3,426 cases statewide, but those are lagging.
The latest case for Richmond is not included in Wednesday’s update, nor is Moore County’s total, according to its Health Department, of 20, including two deaths.
“In order to minimize the spread of COVID-19 within our county, the Richmond County Health Department encourages everyone to follow Gov. Roy Cooper’s order to Stay at Home, unless attending to essential business and to practice social distancing when it is necessary to leave our homes,” Jarrell said.
Cooper alluded to more executive orders coming this week, including customer caps at retail outlets.
