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UPDATE: Second COVID-19 Patient From New York Isolating In WNC

Lilly Knoepp
Murphy is the county seat of Cherokee County. County Commissioners will discuss a state of emergency tonight.

(Update 3/20 )  

The Cherokee County Health Department is alerting residents of a potential exposure to COVID-19 in the Brasstown, NC area, after it was announced Wednesday that an individual  who tested positive for COVID-19 was isolating in the county. The health department has not confirmed that this is the same individual. 

The individual attended a Contra Dance at the John C. Campbell Folk School located in Brasstown, NC on Tuesday, March 10th, 2020. 

There is no ongoing risk of exposure at this location. However, if you attended the event on March 10th, 2020 and have symptoms of COVID-19 the Cherokee County Health Department is asking that you reach out to them or your local county health department. 

 

Original post from 3/19: 

After 10 p.m. on Wednesday night, the Cherokee County Health Department announced that a patient from New York City tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating in the county. This is similar to the patient isolating in Macon County. Since the cases are reported under the state of residency, both case will be identified as New York State cases.

 

Spokesperson Sara Wilson says the health department cannot confirm how long the woman has been in Cherokee County. But she says the patient has been in isolation for about a week while waiting for the test results. 

 

“We just want to let people know that we are investigating and we will be contacting anyone who she might have been in contact with,” says Wilson. “So we want those people to be aware of the situation and not leave anyone in the dark.” 

 

Wilson says they are reaching out to people from New York City as well as in Cherokee County. The health department cannot confirm where the patient was tested. Wilson says the department has the capability to use public test kits sent by the state as well as private test kits. She says public test kits are only available for residents of Cherokee County. 

 

“I mean this is an ever evolving situation. It could be different 3 hours from now. But we are doing our very best to keep the public informed,” says Wilson.

 

Cherokee County Commissioners are holding a meeting at 4:30pm on Thursday to discuss declaring a state of emergency. 

 

Lilly Knoepp is Senior Regional Reporter for Blue Ridge Public Radio. She has served as BPR’s first fulltime reporter covering Western North Carolina since 2018. She is from Franklin, NC. She returns to WNC after serving as the assistant editor of Women@Forbes and digital producer of the Forbes podcast network. She holds a master’s degree in international journalism from the City University of New York and earned a double major from UNC-Chapel Hill in religious studies and political science.
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