The Benton County Health Department does follow-up investigations on county residents who contract a communicable disease while traveling.

While these were the first two reported cases of COVID-19 among Benton County residents, the county is awaiting results on roughly a dozen additional tests and will inform the community if any of those people test positive.

Charlie Fautin, deputy administrator of the Benton County Health Department, told the Gazette-Times the county will make that information public as soon as possible, although it can take two or three days, and sometimes longer, to get the results.

“The testing time varies depending on where the test is sent,” he said. “There’s no hard and fast rule.”

One thing the county won’t make public, however, is the name of anyone who tests positive for COVID-19.

“This is public health standard operating procedure,” Fautin said. “A lot of history with a lot of diseases has shown us that outing people individually and naming names tends to drive disease underground and make people reluctant to report disease or delay medical attention.”