4:45 p.m. UPDATE:
Four Columbus Regional Health employees, including one Columbus Regional Hospital physician, have tested positive for COVID-19.
CRH received confirmation of the positive tests between Friday and late Monday afternoon and has notified staff members and the families of patients who may have come in contact with the employees during the last two weeks they worked, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
DeClue wouldn’t say where the other three employees worked, but said none of the four individuals had symptoms while on the job.
CRH officials declined to reveal how many staff members or patients may have been exposed to the virus whileat a CRH facility, how many CRH employees are in quarantine or if the infected employees were assigned to treat known COVID-19 patients.
Currently, there are eight people with COVID-19 in isolation at Columbus Regional Hospital, three in critical condition and five in stable condition, DeClue said. A total of 17 people have been isolated and treated for the virus at Columbus Regional Hospital since the outbreak started, including some patients from other counties. At least two of the patients have recovered and been released.
So far, 13 Bartholomew County residents have tested positive for the virus, but 204 test results are still pending, according to the Bartholomew County Health Department.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Three employees and one physician within Columbus Regional Health have received notification of positive test results for COVID-19.
These staff and physician received direct notice of their test result. Anyone who may have worked with or come into direct contact with these employees or physician 14 days prior to their last day of work has been notified, said Kelsey DeClue, Columbus Regional Health spokeswoman.
In an effort to minimize the risk of virus spread and exposure as much as possible, Columbus Regional Health continues to enforce our increased workforce, patient and public safety precautions, DeClue said. These precautions include visitor restrictions, limited entrances and screening at each entrance, encouraging and enabling workforce member who have the option of working remotely to do so, and enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures at all facilities, DeClue said.
These affected individuals and Columbus Regional Health are following CDC Guidelines for healthcare workers who test positive, DeClue said.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
