COVID-19 case investigated
Published 11:48 am Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department and other county officials have been made aware of an individual who allegedly tested positive for COVID-19 but was not self-quarantining.
“I received a call and was told about a person in the county who was seen out, and they may be positive for COVID-19,” Sheriff Royal Freeman said. “The health department and the county administrator were both notified.
County Administrator Dan Witt also informed the board of supervisor’s members, during its April 13 meeting of the issue.
Witt says he called the Virginia Department of Health and was instructed the quarantine was voluntary, that the person may be asymptomatic, and that if he/she was wearing a face mask, there was no threat to the public.
“I was told he/she was still working, but I do not know if this was true and did not verify it,” Witt said.
According to Freeman, the VDH notified both he and Witt by phone that to enforce a violation of the COVID-19 quarantine an order has to be requested by the health department, and they didn’t request one.
“The commonwealth attorney was also notified,” Freeman said.
Due to confidentially laws, the VDH cannot release the name, gender, or where that person may be employed.
“While I would probably like to know if I was working with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19, I also know that HIPPA laws provide for privacy to all individuals,” Witt said.
As of Tuesday, April 28 Charlotte County has seven positive cases and one hospitalization and no deaths due to COVID-19.