North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell spent five days at a Winston-Salem hospital after contracting COVID-19.

Folwell has now been released.

Three members of his staff also have the deadly virus.

A news release from Folwell’s staff said his symptoms affected his respiratory system, causing a severe cough. As he was resting at home his cough became bad enough that his physician, John Bernot, told him to go to the hospital on March 29.

Folwell went to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He was never placed on a ventilator, his staff said.

When Folwell was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 25, he said in a news statement that he had been traveling with his son and felt symptomatic when he returned on March 16 to his office in Raleigh but assumed it was allergies.

Folwell was tested on March 23 and quarantined himself while waiting for results.

Folwell’s spokesman Frank Lester said two members of Folwell’s staff tested positive earlier this week and announced Friday that a third employee had the virus.

The news release said that nearly 400 of Folwell’s staffers began working remotely after Gov. Roy Cooper issued a stay-at-home order.

During his hospital stay, the release said, Folwell was never “incapacitated” and stayed in contact with his senior staff. The news release said Folwell praised his staff for their work that included providing more than 300,000 retirees their pension payments.

Folwell is back at home continuing to recover under protocols outlined by his discharge papers and local and state health officials, the news release says.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story misspelled John Bernot’s name. (Updated April 6, 2020, at 3 p.m.)

This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 12:46 PM.