Five new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Livingston County on Thursday, bringing the total to 21.

That followed Wednesday’s announcement that Livingston County had its first coronavirus-related death, an elderly man who was hospitalized March 19th at St. Joseph Mercy in Ann Arbor and passed away five days later. According to the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, as of late Thursday Michigan had 2,856 positive cases and 60 deaths. While no details were provided about the latest local cases, county health officials say they continue to track positive COVID-19 cases and people they have come into contact with.

Speaking Wednesday on WHMI’s COVID-19 Radio Town Hall, Elaine Brown, Livingston County deputy health officer, said they track cases throughout the day and once they are notified about a positive test result for COVID-19, they attempt to contact the patient, confirm that they are aware of their test results and then start investigating, determining when their symptoms began, whether or not that have recently traveled and whether or not they have been exposed to someone else with the virus. "Once contacts have been identified, then we will assess their exposure and recommend they need to quarantine for 14 days since the last date of exposure to our case."