In the first three days of August there were 39 new positive COVID-19 cases in Franklin County. One of those cases was a 65 man from Gerald. Currently, that is the only active case in the Gerald area.

In the last seven days, 43 new cases have been reported in the county. At least three patients are currently hospitalized.

42 people recovered from the virus in the last week, but the definition of a recovery was also changed. In the past, an infected person was required to isolate for 14 days after symptoms appear. They also had to have no fever, without the use of fever reducers for 72 hours. New guidelines now state they must isolate for 10 days and be fever-free for 24 hours. These new guidelines helped remove some into the recovered column this week.

There have been 544 reported COVID-19 cases, with 362 recoveries. 164 people currently have the active virus. Of those, eight are in long term care facilities and the other 156 are under quarantine orders, presumably in their homes. The death toll remains steady at 18.

In the past week, the state has added 9,257 new cases and 53 additional deaths.

State totals released Tuesday afternoon show a cumulative total of 54,080 reported positive cases and 1266 deaths. Additional contact tracers were hired by the Franklin County Health Department in order to keep up with the surge of new cases. Each new positive case is interviewed and their contacts are notified.