Virus

Hoke County COVID-19 news roundup for Tuesday, April 7: 12 cases, many recovered

April 7, 2020April 7, 2020
Hoke County COVID-19 news roundup for Tuesday, April 7: 12 cases, many recovered

(Photo: County employees unload chicken donated by Mountaire Farms.)

By Catharin Shepard – Staff writer –

There are now 12 known positive cases of COVID-19 associated with Hoke County.


So far, none of the patients have had to go to a hospital for further treatment, according to health officials. Many have already recovered from the infectious illness and emerged from isolation, Health Department Director Helene Edwards said Tuesday.

Hoke’s known positive COVID-19 cases include:

  • The first local patient who tested positive March 18, and has recovered
  • Two Fort Bragg/military-connected patients with Hoke home addresses
  • A contractor working in New York who has a Hoke address, but has not been back to the county in a while
  • A healthcare worker who tested positive April 1, and has recovered
  • An 18-year-old and a 66-year-old who separately traveled to New York in early March, and have recovered
  • A man who caught the virus in New York and also infected his pregnant wife, they are doing well
  • A patient who became ill March 24 and received a positive test result Friday, and has already recovered
  • A contractor on Fort Bragg who was tested at Womack and has two colleagues on Fort Bragg who are also sick, who is doing well
  • A veteran who tested positive at the VA medical center, who is isolated and doing well

Mountaire Farms donates chicken
Mountaire Farms in Lumber Bridge donated 11,000 pounds of chicken to help feed medical providers and first responders in Hoke County.

The poultry company delivered the donation Tuesday. Firefighters, law enforcement officers, doctors, nurses and others in the fight against COVID-19 received the chicken.

Jarrod Lowery, community relations manager at Mountaire Farms, said the company wanted to do something to help support healthcare workers and first responders.

“We want to say thank you to all the first responders, thank you to all the truly brave nurses and doctors who are working every single day, all our law enforcement, EMS, firefighters who are working every single day,” Lowery said.

Hoke officials thanked the company for the donation.

(See the full story in tomorrow’s issue of the News-Journal, or online at hokenews.com)

Childcare in Hoke
Childcare providers in Hoke County are working hard to stay open and provide crucial care to the children of essential workers, according to the Hoke County Partnership for Children and Families. Essential workers who need help finding or paying for childcare throughout the crisis should call 1-888-600-1685. You will be connected with a referral specialist with current information on childcare facilities in our area.

Help for senior citizens
Any senior citizen in need of a meal who has no ability to receive food can contact Hoke County Senior Services about the temporarily expanded Meals on Wheels program. Call the office at (910) 875-8588. The department needs the senior resident’s name, telephone number and address.

County pursues internet access
The Hoke County Board of Commissioners voted Monday to approve providing internet access at the county’s public community buildings. It will cost about $14,000 to install and provide service to the buildings in the first year, and cost about $7,000 a year after that.

The goal is to provide wifi access points for families who don’t have internet at home, officials said. The service isn’t available yet, but when it’s installed, people will be able to park in the parking lot and access the internet on their devices.

The board held its regularly scheduled meeting Monday night, with a few changes to comply with social distancing. Only 10 people were allowed in the meeting room at a time, and commissioners sat farther apart than usual.

Library online resources
Even though the Hoke County Public Library is closed, its online resources are still available for families.

Those who don’t have a library card can apply for an Online Access Only card at https://sandhill.nccardinal.org/eg/opac/register. The online access provides free digital media including ebooks and magazines through services like N.C. LIVE, Hoopla, Overdrive, Freading, Open Library and RB Digital.

Substance abuse resources
Resources are available for people struggling with substance abuse.

  • South Eastern Behavioral Health Care: (910) 848-8739 / Crisis Line (910) 374-4498
  • NC Harm Reduction Coalition: www.nchrc.org
  • NC Parent Resource Center: www.impactcarolina.org / (252) 237-1242
  • Tia Hart Community Recovery Center: (910) 273-6137 or (910) 875-8424
  • Hoke County Syringe Exchange Program: (910) 875-0033
  • Hoke County Re-Entry Program: (910) 565-2299
  • Carolina Treatment Center: (910) 864-8739
  • Oxford Houses of NC: www.oxfordhouse.org / (919) 395-8192
  • TROSA (Treatment of Substance Use): www.trosainc.org / (919) 419-1059
  • Veterans Services: (910) 875-2147
  • Dr. Karen L. Smith Family Med. Practice, Medical Assisted Treatment: (910) 904-1695