For answers to frequently asked questions about the coronavirus, click here.



An employee at a Shaw Industries plant in Cartersville, Georgia, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Management at Shaw received confirmation on Friday that an employee tested positive. The employee is currently under the care of a medical provider.

Susan Farris, the vice president of sustainability and corporate communications at Shaw, said the plant was closed temporarily and the Dalton-based company is having a third-party cleaning service disinfect the workplace.

"Associates who have had close contact with the confirmed case will self-quarantine," Farris said in an email response.

There are 400 employees at the plant in Cartersville. Shaw employs 22,000 people at 100 plants, Farris said. Farris said employees are expected to return to the plant on Monday and the company's business operations will not be affected.

(READ MORE: These are the Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama COVID-19 cases by county)

Cartersville is in Bartow County, the county in Georgia with the second most confirmed cases behind Fulton. The Georgia Department of Public Health reported at noon on Saturday that Bartow County had 56 confirmed cases. The whole state has 507.

Bartow has one of the highest rates for counties of confirmed cases per 100,000 people with 53.3. Fulton County — the state's most populous county — has a reported 92 confirmed cases, or about 9.2 cases for every 100,000 people.

Bartow County's outbreak has been linked to a church service in Cartersville at the Church at Liberty Square. Some of the confirmed cases in nearby Floyd County — and at least one of the state's deaths — were linked to the church in Bartow County.

Farris said the company has taken a number of steps since the coronavirus first emerged in China and will continue to make decisions in the best interest of its employees and their families.

"Our associates' physical and financial wellbeing remain our priority," she said. "We continue to monitor the evolving situation closely and make adjustments to our operations, policies and procedures accordingly."



"Our ability to serve our customers and communities has not been impacted nor has the safety and quality of our products."

Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.