The Wilkes County health department confirmed Tuesday that it’s monitoring two COVID-19 outbreaks, including one at Tyson Foods in Wilkesboro.An outbreak is defined by two or more positives cases in a facility. Tyson has told WXII 12 News that “several” employees have tested positive for the virus, but did not report an exact number.Health officials have reported that at least a few dozen cases involving Forsyth County residents who tested positive COVID-19 were connected to the Tyson outbreak.On Monday, the health department partnered with Tyson Foods to test 200 team members.”The goal was to help identify team members who are positive for COVID-19 so they could be self-isolated those team members based on the current CDC recommendations, while using these results to get a better sense of the spread in the plant,” the health department said in a statement. “Tyson Foods is also going to use these numbers to enhance mitigation strategies. Over the next coming weeks, Wilkes Health will continue to work with Tyson Foods to ensure the health and safety of their team members and community.”In a statement, the health department said Tyson Foods reports that is has taken measures to protect employees and decrease the chance of person to person transmission throughout the facility. “Some of these measures include, but are not limited to temperature and symptom checks, relaxed attendance policy to reinforce the importance of staying home when sick or to meet childcare needs, as well as restricted visitor access to our facilities. They are also providing personal protective equipment and employing social distancing policies where possible. The plant also reports that they have waived the co-pay, co-insurance and deductible for doctor visits or telemedicine for COVID-19 testing as well as eliminated pre-approval or pre-authorization steps,” the statement said.Wilkes County health department also said the Wilkes Health and Rehabilitation, a long term care setting, has a COVID-19 outbreak. The facility has tested all residents and staff members, health officials said. While some results are still pending, one staff member and three residents have tested positive for COVID-19. Wilkes County is reporting 132 confirmed positive cases. At least one person has died from the virus.Health officials said most of the new cases in the county are linked to an outbreak, not all are. “In the coming days and weeks, I anticipate that we will continue to see our case number in Wilkes County continue to rise,” health director Rachel Willard said. “This will be largely attributed to the outbreak at Tyson, however we are still experiencing community transmission in our community as well. While the weather is getting nicer, and we have been stuck at home for a while, now more than ever is it important to stay vigilant to the social distancing measures to the greatest extent possible. I continue to urge the community to practice prevention measures to protect yourself like washing your hands, covering cough and sneeze, and keeping 6 feet of distance or more from others when you have to be out in public.”
WILKESBORO, N.C. —
The Wilkes County health department confirmed Tuesday that it’s monitoring two COVID-19 outbreaks, including one at Tyson Foods in Wilkesboro.
An outbreak is defined by two or more positives cases in a facility.
Tyson has told WXII 12 News that “several” employees have tested positive for the virus, but did not report an exact number.
Health officials have reported that at least a few dozen cases involving Forsyth County residents who tested positive COVID-19 were connected to the Tyson outbreak.
On Monday, the health department partnered with Tyson Foods to test 200 team members.
“The goal was to help identify team members who are positive for COVID-19 so they could be self-isolated those team members based on the current CDC recommendations, while using these results to get a better sense of the spread in the plant,” the health department said in a statement. “Tyson Foods is also going to use these numbers to enhance mitigation strategies. Over the next coming weeks, Wilkes Health will continue to work with Tyson Foods to ensure the health and safety of their team members and community.”
In a statement, the health department said Tyson Foods reports that is has taken measures to protect employees and decrease the chance of person to person transmission throughout the facility.
“Some of these measures include, but are not limited to temperature and symptom checks, relaxed attendance policy to reinforce the importance of staying home when sick or to meet childcare needs, as well as restricted visitor access to our facilities. They are also providing personal protective equipment and employing social distancing policies where possible. The plant also reports that they have waived the co-pay, co-insurance and deductible for doctor visits or telemedicine for COVID-19 testing as well as eliminated pre-approval or pre-authorization steps,” the statement said.
Wilkes County health department also said the Wilkes Health and Rehabilitation, a long term care setting, has a COVID-19 outbreak.
The facility has tested all residents and staff members, health officials said.
While some results are still pending, one staff member and three residents have tested positive for COVID-19.
Wilkes County is reporting 132 confirmed positive cases. At least one person has died from the virus.
Health officials said most of the new cases in the county are linked to an outbreak, not all are.
“In the coming days and weeks, I anticipate that we will continue to see our case number in Wilkes County continue to rise,” health director Rachel Willard said. “This will be largely attributed to the outbreak at Tyson, however we are still experiencing community transmission in our community as well. While the weather is getting nicer, and we have been stuck at home for a while, now more than ever is it important to stay vigilant to the social distancing measures to the greatest extent possible. I continue to urge the community to practice prevention measures to protect yourself like washing your hands, covering cough and sneeze, and keeping 6 feet of distance or more from others when you have to be out in public.”
Read More
