On Thursday and Friday, the Lawrence County commissioners and the Lawrence County Health Department announced that there were a second and a third case of COVID-19 in the county.

A fourth case was reported by the state but commissioner DeAnna Holliday said that was recorded wrong and was actually in another county.

“We knew we would eventually get more cases, particularly since we’ve heard that Boyd County confirmed five additional cases,” the health department said in a press release on Thursday. “We are now at a point where we have to assume that anyone can have this.”

On Friday, Holliday and Lawrence County Health Department director Georgia Dillon made the announcement about the third case on Facebook on Friday.

“We have been working very hard on contacting the 85 contacts we have in Lawrence County, that means they are pending results. We expect those numbers to go up,” Dillon explained. “What that means is we may not be able to get together and report each case.”

She said the health department, the commissioners and the Lawrence County EMA will be doing a unified approach to get the word out on the number of cases.

With the announcement of the second and third case in Lawrence County along with 19 cases in Boyd County, including a worker at King’s Daughter Medical Center, five cases in Cabell County, four cases in Gallia County, one case in Greenup County and one case in Carter County, the health department is urging people to help contain the coronavirus by following the state mandated stay-at-home order.

“Our message for you is to really look at essential activities you need to be doing,” Dillon said. “I feel like the people who are 60 and over do not need to be out currently.”

She recommended younger relatives providing food or going to the grocery store for them.

“We want to protect all the county residents. We have got to stay diligent, we have to stay at home to flatten the curve.”

Dillon said that in her 34 years in public health, she has taken part in a lot of pandemic drills and Gov. Mike DeWine has done a lot of good things for the state during the pandemic, but the needed things remain the same.

“Wash your hands. Be distant, if you find a store is too crowded, just back out and go later,” she said. “Don’t go in crowds of people, don’t go to people’s houses and have a party. Don’t take those risks. And please, wash your hands and don’t touch your face.”

Holliday followed up Dillon’s remarks by assuring people that the information people need would be put out as quickly as possible. She also asked people to follow the stay-at-home order.

“We have to have your help with this,” she said. “My advice would be to just assume everyone has the potential to be infected at this point, that is how serious this is.”

Health departments release limited information about those infected with COVID-19. Those who have come into contact with people who have confirmed cases will be contacted by the health department.

As of Friday afternoon, the worldwide number of COVID-19 cases were 1,041,126 confirmed cases.

In the United States, 257,367 had tested positive, 11,941 had recovered and 6,574 had died from COVID-19.

In Ohio, there are 3,312 confirmed cases and 91 confirmed fatalities. The ages in the cases range from 1–101 years old.

The breakdown by gender is 51 percent female, 48 percent male.