VALDOSTA – A second case of COVID-19 in Lowndes County has been confirmed by hospital officials.

This second patient is a staff member at South Georgia Medical Center and was part of the care of the first patient, a woman treated at the main hospital from March 5-7 and transferred to a Florida hospital, according to SGMC officials.

This staff member received a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 Saturday night through testing as compared to the first patient who received a presumptive positive diagnosis, hospital officials said. 

The new patient is believed to have been exposed to the first patient March 6 and noticed initial symptoms March 11, and was identified as a “high” risk of exposure, then placed under “monitoring guidance at home,” SGMC officials said Sunday.

Currently, the staff member is self-quarantining at home and, as of Saturday night, reported 75% of symptoms had abated, a hospital official said. SGMC officials do not expect the staff member to receive additional treatment because of the improvement.

As of 12:45 p.m. Sunday, all other SGMC staff with “high” risks of exposure are self-quarantining at home and have not displayed signs or symptoms requiring further evaluation or treatment, according to hospital officials.

“At this time, we are not aware of any who have been exposed to this team member that are symptomatic, but will continue to work thoroughly through the process to determine who if any need monitoring guidance or further evaluation,” said Dr. Brian Dawson, chief medical officer at SGMC.

 “We will continue to update on our preparedness and policies daily. We will continue to conduct wellness checks on our staff, especially those who are under exposure monitoring guidance,” said Ronnie Dean, CEO at SGMC. “And we will continue to send out updates to the public, our team and other community partners to ensure the very best information possible.”