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Five Forsyth County Courthouse Workers Test Positive For COVID-19

The Forsyth County Hall of Justice Building in downtown Winston-Salem. PAUL GARBER/WFDD

 Five employees at the Forsyth County courthouse have tested positive for COVID-19. 

The courthouse will have limited operations next week but will not be closed completely.

Clerk Renita Thompkins Linville says that officials are working with the county's Health Department to notify people who may have been in close contact with anyone who has tested positive.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that all sheriff's deputies who work at the courthouse will undergo testing.

This is not the first time the courthouse has been impacted by the pandemic.

The facility was closed for several days in April after an employee from the bookkeeping department tested positive.

The advocacy group Housing Justice Now released a statement Thursday saying that not all courthouse employees were wearing face coverings on a consistent basis, and criticized the sheriff's office for not enforcing pandemic guidelines.  

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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