RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — The Randolph County Public Health Department reported the first COVID-19 associated death in Randolph County.
The individual died on Friday, April 3, from complications associated with the virus, officials said. The patient was in their 60s and had several underlying medical conditions, officials said. To protect the privacy of the family, no further information about this patient was be released, according to the RCPH.
"This serves as an unfortunate reminder of the seriousness that surrounds COVID-19 and the potential impacts to those high-risk individuals. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) recommends that everyone stay at home to the extent possible to decrease the chance of infection," RCHP officials said in a release.
In addition to the update, the Randolph County Public Health Department provided information on identifying coronavirus and symptoms to look for:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) include the following people as high risk:
- Those at high-risk for severe illness from COVID-19 are:
- People aged 65 years and older
- People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility
- People of all ages with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for severe illness, particularly if the underlying medical conditions are not well controlled. This includes people with:
- Chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
- Serious heart conditions
- Conditions that can cause a person to be immunocompromised, including cancer treatment, smoking, bone marrow or organ transplant, immune deficiencies, poorly controlled HIV or AIDS, and prolonged use of corticosteroids and other immune weakening medications.
- Severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
- Diabetes
- Chronic kidney disease and who are underlying dialysis
- Liver disease
- People who are pregnant should be monitored since they are known to be at risk with severe viral illness, however, to date, data on COVID-19 has not shown increased risk
Because COVID-19 is most commonly spread through respiratory droplets, individuals should take the same measures that health care providers recommend to prevent the spread of the flu and other viruses, including washing your hands, avoiding touching your face, staying home if you are sick and covering coughs and sneezes with your elbow.
For more information, please visit the RCPH’s website at http://www.randolphcountync.gov/Departments/Public-Health/COVID-19, the CDC’s website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus and NCDHHS’ website at: www.ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus, which will also include positive COVID-19 case count results in North Carolina.
Symptoms for COVID-19 are fever, cough, and other lower respiratory illness (shortness of breath). If you are having a mild respiratory illness, isolate yourself from others until the following criteria are met:
- At least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
- AND at least 3 days (72 hours) have passed since recovery defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath).
If your illness becomes severe, requiring urgent or emergent health care, call and inform your health care provider or emergency services of your symptoms prior to arrival.
If you have questions, you may call the Randolph County Coronavirus Hotline at: 336-318-6227 Monday-Friday, 8AM-5PM.