Second COVID-19 death in Randolph County reported Friday

Randolph County's second death from the coronavirus was reported Friday, along with five new cases, according to a news release distributed by Larry Willis, public information officer for the Randolph County EMA.

The Randolph County Health Department did not offer any information about the age, gender of location of the person whose death was announced. The county's first COVID-19 death was Don Welge, the 84-year-old president and CEO of Gilster Mary-Lee Corp.

Meanwhile, the five new cases announced Friday brings the total number of cases in the county to 169, 109 of them active. Three of the 109 are in hospital, while 106 are recovering under isolation at home. Fifty-eight patients have recovered from the virus and two have died.

Altogether, 580 individuals have tested negative.

Health workers from Chester Memorial Hospital, Red Bud Regional Hospital and Sparta Community Hospital are working with the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. to conduct on-site screening and testing of all employees who enter or depart any of the GML plants. Employees who show symptoms of coronavirus are sent home to self-quarantine for 14 days.

For privacy reasons, Randolph health officials are not identifying the patients by gender or age, but they are offering the ZIP codes of where those patients or former patients reside: 62233 (Chester); 62241 (Ellis Grove); 62242 (Evansville); 62272 (Percy); 62277 (Prairie du Rocher); 62278 (Red Bud); 62286 (Sparta); 62288 (Steeleville) and 62297 (Walsh).