As of 2:30 this afternoon, the Halifax County Public Health system added one additional positive novel coronavirus case to its count, bringing its total to 33 positive cases.
Health system Director Bruce Robistow said in his update there have also been two additional patients who have been deemed recovered. The total number of recovered cases in the county now stands at 14.
Meanwhile, Robistow said the health department is aware of 184 COVID-19 tests being performed in the county. Seven of those tests are pending. Therefore, he said, the health system can account for 143 negative tests.
In its daily update, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety reported there are currently nine positive cases of the novel coronavirus at Caledonia Correctional Institution in Tillery. There have been 13 tests performed with four negative results.
Northampton County
The Northampton County Health Department Friday reported there has been a second death related to COVID-19.
There are currently 71 positive cases in the county and 30 of those are deemed recovered.
As part of the current 71 positive cases within the county, the health department has determined that two of them are part of a facility. “Additional COVID-19 collection testing resulted in nine additional close contacts testing negative for COVID-19. In order to ensure the health of individuals within this facility, Northampton County Health Department will conduct further COVID-19 collections early next week as additional COVID-19 collection kits were just obtained earlier today (Friday).”
Concerning the second death, the update said, “Northampton County Health Department has been investigating cases of COVID-19 in our community, both in the individual settings and outbreak settings. Part of the investigation also includes looking for possible COVID-19 related death events. Our county has just been informed that we have had another potential COVID-related death that occurred a couple of weeks ago by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. “Northampton County Health Department offers its sincerest sympathy for the family of this case, and for all families and individuals impacted by COVID illness.”
According to NCDHHS, a novel coronavirus COVID-19-associated death is defined for surveillance purposes as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness that was confirmed to be COVID-19 by an appropriate laboratory test. There should be no period of complete recovery between COVID-19 diagnosis and death. Based on this case definition and an investigation into the illness of the case patient, NCDHHS is classifying this event as a COVID-19 related death.
“Northampton County Health Department works hard to protect the privacy of individuals, and to respect the families of those cases who have passed-away. To that end, we will not be sharing any further information. We are continuing to investigate all COVID-19 cases in our county and will continue to follow NCDHHS guidance on reporting of cases, outbreaks, and deaths related to COVID-19.”
