Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Healthcare workers await their next patient at the welcoming triage portion of the mobile COVID-19 testing clinic that was held at Pima Junior High. The only two positive cases in Graham County were from the Pima area and they have both since fully recuperated.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services sent out a news release Friday afternoon updated the COVID-19 testing that has taken place in the county.
According to Graham County Health Director Brian Douglas, a total of 52 people have been tested for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 with two positive cases, 39 negative tests, and 11 which are still pending.
The two positive tests came from the Pima Elementary School when a female staff member working with fifth and sixth graders became the first positive test in Graham County and a person who was exposed to close contact with her. The two individuals have since fully recuperated, according to Douglas.
Earlier in the day, the Arizona Department of Health Services inaccurately posted that Graham County had two additional positive tests when two negative tests came back Thursday night and were recorded as positive tests by mistake. But, as first posted on the Gila Herald’s Facebook page, the number of positive tests in Graham County remains unchanged as of Friday.
The news release from the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services advised of how the testing process is going in Graham County.
“When a healthcare provider (HCP) feels like a COVID-19 test is needed, samples are taken from the back of the sick person’s nasal cavity (using a swab) and sent to an outside laboratory for testing. Normally, those results are available in three to five days. However, with the dramatic increase in testing across the U.S., test results are taking a bit longer than usual. Also, we are currently experiencing a shortage of testing supplies and only our sickest people with suspicious symptoms for COVID-19 are being tested. Testing and test results will not, currently, change how a sick person is treated. There is no current medication available for COVID-19. Most people sick with this disease can isolate themselves at home with plenty of fluids and over-the-counter medications.
In most cases, after the sick person is tested, the HCP will ask the sick person to stay at home and isolate themselves from other people as much as possible while waiting for test results to come back. The HCP notifies the Health Department of the test and the Health Department will contact the sick person to find out where they have been and who they have been in contact with. The Health Department will call the sick person daily while waiting for test results and check on them.”
Numbers of positive tests continue to increase elsewhere in Arizona, with Maricopa (399) and Pima (102) counties leading the way to a total of 664 positive tests and 13 deaths. Other counties with positive tests include Navajo (49), Coconino (41), Pinal (36), Apache (11), Yavapai (9), Mohave (4), Yuma (4), Cochise (3), La Paz (2), Santa Cruz (2), and Graham (2).
The only counties without a positive test as of Friday continue to be Gila and Greenlee.
