A 42-year-old hospital worker from Georgia who was found dead in her home last week tested positive for COVID-19. Police in Newnan, which is about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, found the body of Diedre Wilkes in her home after a family member contacted the Coweta County Sheriff's Office to request a welfare check.
When officers arrived, they found Wilkes' body in the living room, with her four-year-old child lying next to her. Officials are awaiting the results of the autopsy to determine how she died. They said that she did not have any underlying health conditions, and was not showing any symptoms of COVID-19 before she died.
Wilkes worked as a mammogram technician at Piedmont Newnan Hospital, and health officials said they notified staff members and any patients she may have been in contact with about her diagnosis.
"Piedmont is providing these individuals with detailed information for self-monitoring and will offer COVID-19 testing to those who request it," John Manasso, a spokesman for Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta, said. "This employee did not work in an area treating known or suspected COVID-19 patients. Our thoughts and prayers are with the employee's family during this difficult time."
There are more than 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia, and 38 people have died.
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