FAIRMONT — Sheriff Jeff Markquart posted a video update Thursday concerning COVID-19 for the citizens of Martin County.

“Yesterday, we had 10 [cases] and today we are up two, so we are at 12 total positive tests in Martin County,” he said.

He went on to share that people who have tested positive are either in the process, or will be soon, of being released from quarantine. He noted those people are fully allowed to be out in the public.

“We need to support those people coming out,” he said. “They’ve been through quite a rough situation.”

Markquart noted in a later interview that one of the most difficult things to relay is that people coming off their 14-day quarantine are not considered contagious and are allowed to go about their lives.

Markquart also answered some questions received on the sheriff’s Facebook page, including one about where people who have tested positive are located.

“Right now, we have positive tests from the Fairmont community, from the Sherburn community, from the Truman community, from the Welcome community and from the Northrop community,” he said. “So we’re getting spread out in the county here, and all but one of these have been community spread.”

He noted that 85 percent of cases are mild and don’t even require a hospital stay.

“Only 5 percent, so far, have been requiring ICU stays, and only 10 percent are requiring hospitalization,” he said. “Symptoms are dizziness, body aches, fevers of over 100.4, vomiting and persistent coughing.”

He also gave a statement on how the virus is spread.

“Coughing and not covering your mouth, sneezing, spitting when you’re talking, the droplets that we pass are hanging in the air,” he said. “Therefore, when someone else walks through them and gets them on their face, it goes into their nose and that’s how this is mostly spread. We can still spread it through shaking hands and other contact, that’s why we’re trying to stay 6 feet apart.”

He said the virus can stay on hard surfaces such as desks and door handles, and even in cars, for two to four days.

Another public question concerns whether people need a special pass to drive around the county. In an emergency meeting of the Martin County commissioners, Emergency Management director Abigail Nesbit said no special note or pass is needed.

“We don’t want you to stay cooped up in the house,” Markquart said. “The governor said go for a drive with your wife and kids, go for a nice drive and get out of the house. Go outside and visit with your neighbors when you’re picking up sticks. Keep that contact with your neighbors, that’s important.

“We’re going to allow you to go get groceries, we’re going to allow you to go to the doctor; there’s a lot of things you don’t need a pass for. In saying that, try not to put law enforcement of any agency in a position where we have to write a citation.

“I’ve talked to the County Attorney and the state has come down with a statute already to start keeping people home. Please don’t put us in those hard positions where things get sideways. We’re all working together in this, we all have jobs to do and we can get through this.

“After listening to the governor the other day, we could be in this for the long haul and we need to be prepared for that,” he said. “So let’s all work together. We can do this together; we can’t do it on our own, one on one.”