Four virus cases confirmed

As of 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Health’s online COVID-19 tracker reported four positive cases of coronavirus infection in Wise County.

Local government officials have placed two cases in Appalachia and a third in Big Stone Gap. However, the coalfield regional health department office had publicly confirmed only one case as of last weekend.

That office does not provide details on the location of positive cases, to preserve patients’ privacy.

CONFIRMED CASE

Dr. Eleanor Sue Cantrell of the health department confirmed a positive case, involving a man in his 70s, in a Saturday afternoon email. Cantrell was responding to a reporter’s inquiry about a rumored case mentioned on a local Facebook page.

The man is hospitalized, Cantrell wrote, adding, “Due to patient privacy, no further information about the patient will be disclosed by VDH.”

Cantrell’s confirmation of the positive case came in response to a reporter’s questions about an assertion of a positive case in Appalachia.

Town Manager Fred Luntsford posted information late last week stating that a person in town had tested positive. He wrote that the person had been placed in quarantine March 30 and later received the test result. The person was taken to Lonesome Pine Hospital, according to Luntsford.

Later, Appalachia Assistant Fire Chief Travis Anderson posted a video online stating that town emergency services personnel transported the person to the hospital emergency room, and those two personnel had been quarantined at home as a precaution. The patient showed no symptoms of infection at that time, he said.

Monday, Anderson stated that three personnel are being quarantined at home. Two of them have been tested for the virus and came up negative, he said.

In his Monday afternoon video on the fire department’s Facebook page, Anderson stated that Sunday, Ballad Health notified the department that there is a second positive case in Wise County involving a person the department transported to a hospital. The person was showing symptoms of the virus, he noted.

This person was in an isolated area close to the site of the previously confirmed case, he said.

Anderson said the department practices “robust” personal protection measures and is working closely with local and regional officials. He noted that medical professionals are finding that people who do not show symptoms of COVID-19 still can spread the virus, and that every patient should be treated as someone who might be infected.

Contacted later Monday, Cantrell did not confirm whether there was a second positive case here. She noted that the health department’s tally of cases is updated online daily at 9 a.m. for cases reported before 5 p.m. the previous day. Cases reported after 5 p.m. show up one day later.

MEOC

A Mountain Empire Older Citizens employee has tested positive for the virus, Executive Director Michael Wampler confirmed Monday. He said the state health department notified the regional agency on aging of the test result.

In a Wednesday email, Wampler stated that the health department “has taken the lead and is providing guidance.” Wampler wrote that he does not anticipate releasing any additional information.

HEALTH DIRECTOR’S ADVICE

“It's important to understand that an individual's risk of exposure is NOT determined by the numbers and locations of cases or the details of investigations,” Cantrell noted in her Saturday statement. “Your risk of exposure is determined by your behavior. Regardless of the presence or absence of cases near you, it is critically important for your well-being to stay home as much as possible, and practice good personal precautions, including hygiene and distance.

“For confirmed cases of COVID-19, and with any communicable illness required to be reported to VDH, the health department does ‘contact tracing,’ to identify anyone who had contact with the patient, to assess their risk of potential exposure and to provide medical and public health measures to protect individuals and the community,” Cantrell continued. “That's the work we do every day.

“It's a mistake to assume your risk of exposure to COVID-19 is higher or lower merely because of where you are. We all should assume that COVID-19 is everywhere in Virginia, and protect ourselves accordingly.

“Personal precautions are how we protect ourselves, those around us and those who will be around us tomorrow and the day after that,” Cantrell wrote. “There is no absolutely safe place. There is only safe behavior.”

Cantrell reminds us that effective personal precautions include:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer only if soap and water are not available.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.

• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

• Stay home when you are sick.

• Avoid contact with sick people.

• If you are experiencing symptoms, call your doctor.

• Avoid close contact with crowds of any size, and avoid any crowd of 10 or more.

• Stay home as much as possible, except for essential travel.

Interim Editor Jeff Lester and Staff Writer Terran Young contributed to this story.