| The Clay County Health Department is reporting its first lab confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The department said Wednesday it has started a case investigation and contact tracing.
Officials are urging people in the county to continue to follow social distancing guidelines including staying at home when possible.
The person identified with COVID-19, an employee of Montgomery General, has issued a public statement, saying she believes there are many more cases of COVID-19 in rural counties, yet to be caught up with narrow testing.
(See her statement in this article).
Less that 2% of Americans have been tested, while the Trump administration and some state politicians claim they are readily available, and much of America is being allowed to go back to work in spite of rising cases and deaths, particularly in rural America.
Several thousand meat packing workers have the virus, while President Trump issued an order allowing them back to work.
The death toll predictions through August from the University of Washingtonâs Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation were raised to 134,000 from 72,000.
Testing lags are also preventing us from knowing the true spread of the disease. Most of the 7 million people who have been tested in the U.S. had severe symptoms of Covid. So the true number of infected could be many, many times higher.
Kanawha Countyâs health director said at a news conference Wednesday that the four day-care workers who tested positive for COVID-19 work at separate children's facilities and were identified during drive-thru testing.
Felicia Dawson posted the message below on her Facebook page. We at the Hur Herald consider her among the many, considerate and brave Heroes.
"So, even though I was "advised" against doing so, I think its only fair to make this post since everyone is already talking about it anyway. Yes, I am our county's first confirmed positive case, No, I do not believe that I am the only person in the county that has had COVID-19, but I have been tested twice due to my place of employment taking every precaution to keep our staff and patients safe."
"I am perfectly content with staying home for 2 weeks, and Jarrod is also quarantined with me. Our kids are at my mom's, and have been, since I do work in a hospital with positive cases. Please take into account that my parents do drive our vehicles from time to time, so if you see my car or Jarrod's truck its more than likely not us driving. I am not deathly ill, but as a nurse, I know that other people may not be as fortunate. My main concern is making sure I do not spread this illness. I just wanted to be open and honest so people don't have to wonder, and I would prefer not getting hundreds of personal messages. [on Facebook]"
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