Caldwell County Has First Outbreak and Second COVID-19 Death

Updated 5-15-20

Today, Caldwell County learned of an outbreak at Carolina Prime Pet. The state defines an outbreak as two or more cases in a single facility. The county also learned of its second COVID-19-related death.

Four Prime Pet employees tested positive after the company proactively sought to have all of their employees tested. All of the employees who tested positive reside outside of Caldwell County, and cases are counted in the county where patients live, not where they work.

"At Carolina Prime Pet, our employees are our top priority, and we have taken extra steps to protect them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been checking employee temperatures, providing gloves, masks, and sanitation stations, as well as disinfecting our facility and requiring employees to go through a disinfecting station upon entering, while providing new uniforms each day.  They also pass through the disinfecting station when leaving our facility," said Carolina Prime Pet Owner and President Van Brown. "We will continue taking these measures and work with Health Department to assist our employees."

The second COVID-19-related death was a patient over the age of 65, who had been hospitalized and was reported to have underlying health conditions.

One positive COVID-19 case was reported today in the 28638 Zip code. The number of recovered patients now stands at 36.

For local information about Coronavirus, visit www.caldwellcountync.org/coronavirus-covid-19 or call the Caldwell County Health Department Health Information Line at 828-426-8456 or the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 828-426-8605. Resources are available in Spanish at www.caldwellcountync.org/coronavirus-covid-19/enfermedades-coronavirus-2019-respuesta-covid-19.