The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announces that a Spotsylvania County resident has tested positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), confirming the fifth "presumptive positive" case in the state. The positive result returned Monday afternoon is considered presumptive, pending confirmation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The individual is a male in his fifties, who is currently hospitalized in stable condition. The investigation is in its very early stages and health officials are trying to determine how the patient contracted the illness.
"We are reaching out to contacts and conducting risk assessments in order to take appropriate actions to protect the contacts’ and the public’s health," according to Rappahannock Area Health District Director Dr. Brooke Rossheim. "The risk of novel coronavirus infection in the general population of Spotsylvania County continues to remain low. At this time, there is no evidence to support community transmission of COVID-19 in Spotsylvania County or the Rappahannock Area Health District."
Spotsylvania County continues to be in close contact with the Virginia Department of Health through the Rappahannock Area Health District and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to receive regular updates on the latest developments of COVID-19, as it has been from the onset of this rapidly changing situation.
The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can cause mild to more severe respiratory illness. In a small number of patients, COVID-19 can cause death, particularly among those who are older or have chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, cough and difficulty breathing. Symptoms appear within 14 days of being exposed to an infectious person. COVID-19 spreads primarily through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
The Rappahannock Area Health District continues to stress the following EFFECTIVE infection prevention and control measures:
· Practice good hand hygiene
· Practice good cough and sneeze hygiene
· Avoid going to work, school, etc. if you are ill
· Avoid close contact with ill persons
· Avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes
· Practice good environmental cleaning, particularly of high touch surfaces
· Influenza continues to be active in Virginia. If you have not had a flu vaccine, please obtain one. It is not too late to be vaccinated.
Visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus for accurate, up-to-date information regarding COVID-19.