Lowe’s employee tests positive

    Murphy – A Cherokee County resident who works at Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Murphy tested positive for COVID-19, and the Cherokee County Health Department is asking shoppers to self-quarantine and self-monitor for symptoms.

    This case brings the county's total reported cases to 14. Six of those cases have recovered, one died, and two are counted as residents of another state.

    The health department said the individual did isolate after being tested by the health department. The health department is working to contact close contacts of the individual, and is working with Lowe’s to contact co-workers. Because the person was symptomatic before contacting the health department, there are concerns of potential exposure to people who visited Lowe’s between March 22 and April 7. 

    The health department is advising anyone who visited the store during that time and had contact with anyone within six feet for 10 minutes or more to self-quarantine for 14 days from the visit.

    As of Friday, North Carolina reported 3,908 cases of COVID-19 and 74 deaths. The state is not reporting recoveries, and does not take recoveries away from its total number of cases as it does with deaths.