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Polk County has completed 251 tests with 20 pending

 

POLK COUNTY—Polk County has released additional information regarding Coronavirus cases, including how many of the positive cases have been released from isolation.

Polk County released the new information on Friday, when it had 23 positive cases. Of the positives, 8 had been released from isolation.

The county has done a total of 251 tests, and as of Friday, there were 23 positives and 208 negatives. There were still 20 tests pending as of Friday afternoon.

The county now has a drive-through testing site and had completed 24 tests there as of the end of last week.

People are able to get a test from the drive-up service by appointment. Anyone with symptoms should call the county’s message line at 828-722-5086 for more information on how to get tested.

Most of Polk County’s positive tests are female at 65.2 percent and 34.8 percent male.

Most of the county’s positive cases are age 65 and older, with the next most cases being 25-49 years old and the least being 50-64 years old. There have been no positive cases in Polk County between 0-24 years old, according to the county’s latest data.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is also giving additional data concerning the virus, including zip codes. The virus has been confirmed in the zip codes of Saluda, Columbus and Tryon, with Saluda having the most cases. The NCDHHS data does not state how many cases are in each township.

The NCDHHS data also states how many supplies the state has in its hospitals for the virus. There are 6,947 face shields, with a 36-day supply on hand statewide; 58,824 gloves, with a 133-day supply; 33,965 gowns, with a zero-day supply; 79,896 N95 respirators, with a 1-day supply and 29,876 surgical and procedure masks, with a 62-day supply.

Polk County Health and Human Services Director Joshua Kennedy said on Friday that St. Luke’s Hospital employees will be tested. Those tests reportedly began over the weekend with a 48-72 hour expectancy on results.

St. Luke’s Hospital has reported one employee who has tested positive for the virus, but it is believed the transmission occurred from a known source outside of the hospital. St. Luke’s has also reported it has two positive patients hospitalized.