June 2, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: COVID-19 Burke County Media Briefing
Burke County’s Response to COVID-19
• Burke County is currently at 464 positive cases. The cases consist of traveling, congregate living, and community spread. All positive cases are isolated and Public Health staff continues to investigate the cases and will be locating those close contacts to help contain the spread of the infection.
• Numbers noted on the state website may fluctuate during the public health investigations when staff find out that some positive tests are truly not Burke County residents. Numbers listed above are correct numbers for Burke County.
• Public information line has been opened Monday through Friday, 8am – 5pm for those with questions can call 828-764-9388.
• Para español llama al 764-9150 y presiona el número dos. Si nadie contesta favor de deja un corto mensaje con su nombre y número de teléfono.
Update from Burke County Health Department:
A targeted drive thru COVID -19 testing clinic will be held Wednesday, June 3 at East Burke Middle School from 9am – 3pm for those individuals that live in the towns from Valdese east to the county line. (Zip codes include 28690, 28612, 28637, 28671, 28666, 28667, 28601, 28602) Those seeking testing will need to bring their driver’s license and insurance card if you have insurance coverage.
Please do not line up early, gates will open at 9am and be closed at 2:30pm. Please follow directions as you may be in your car for a long period of time. There will be no access to any bathrooms during this testing clinic.
For more information contact 764-9388.
Our new normal, practice the 3 W’s: WEAR – a cloth face covering when out in public and in places where you cannot physically distance yourself from others, WAIT – at least six feet from others everywhere you are and WASH – your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer if you do not have access to soap and water.
If you have recently gotten a COVID-19 test but have not gotten your test results, please make sure to contact the place where you got tested to get your results. All who get tested for COVID-19 are REQUIRED to self-isolate (stay at home and do not go out for any reason) at home until their test results return which could be 2 to 4 days depending upon the company doing the testing. Also, you will need to self-isolate from others within your home until your test results come back so you do not spread the virus within your home.
Please remember that as each community across NC increases testing the numbers of positive and negative tests will also increase. That is why it is still very important to follow the
recommendations for those at high risk of this infection to stay at home even though more businesses are going to start opening again after Friday. This infection continues to spread within our community due to people continuing to gather together in large groups in close contact and for longer periods of time. Positive individuals within this community are both symptomatic and asymptomatic. Now is not the time to go back to doing the activities as you did them before.
If you have any further questions or need additional information, contact the Burke County Public Information Line at 828-764-9388, Monday – Friday from 8am – 5pm. After hours, weekends and holidays, the NC Public Information Line number is provided as a resource to contact. The operator will answer your questions or direct you to the correct person to answer your questions. Or you can also visit the Burke County COVID-19 webpage at www.burkenc.org/COVID-19. If you are having a medical emergency, call 9-1-1 and inform the dispatcher that you have symptoms listed for COVID-19.
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