Dozens of nursing home patients hospitalized in coronavirus outbreak, TN officials say
Dozens of coronavirus cases and two deaths have been linked to a Tennessee nursing home, officials say.
At least 59 residents and 33 employees of Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation & Healing have tested positive for COVID-19, state officials said Sunday. The facility is roughly 30 miles northeast of downtown Nashville.
Affected residents and those showing symptoms were taken to local hospitals, according to officials. Gallatin Center on Sunday also said residents were being transported to medical centers to receive care while the facility is cleaned.
Sumner Regional Medical Center as of Sunday said it admitted 42 Gallatin Center patients. Two residents died, the hospital wrote in a Facebook post.
The first patients were hospitalized Friday, five days after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an order that temporarily bars visitors from entering nursing homes and similar facilities. All employees and residents still living at the Gallatin Center were tested for COVID-19 on Saturday, the governor’s office said.
“Our mission since the beginning of the pandemic is to be as proactive as possible, and we will continue to do so to ensure your loved one’s safety,” the nursing home wrote on its Facebook page.
The facility also said staff members who tested positive will be allowed to return to work only after they are treated.
Coronavirus cases at nursing homes
It isn’t the first time a care facility has had a COVID-19 outbreak.
In the Seattle area, 37 deaths were connected to the Life Care Center nursing home.
And this weekend, two dozen cases were reported among residents and employees of an assisted living facility in Northampton County, North Carolina, according to The News & Observer.
As coronavirus spreads, health officials encourage nursing homes to make visitor restrictions, stop group activities and implement screening measures.
“Given their congregate nature and residents served (e.g., older adults often with underlying chronic medical conditions), nursing home populations are at the highest risk of being affected by COVID-19,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Residents who develop infections can also get seriously sick, according to the CDC.
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 9:05 AM with the headline "Dozens of nursing home patients hospitalized in coronavirus outbreak, TN officials say."
