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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee nursing home has moved 24 patients to a local hospital after some tested positive for COVID-19, and the hospital said Saturday that one of the patients has died.
The remaining 23 patients have been admitted to the Sumner County Regional Medical Center and are in isolation, according to a post on the hospital's official Facebook page on Saturday.
The previous evening, Sumner officials said 19 patients from the Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing were being moved to the hospital. Some had tested positive for the disease while others were showing symptoms but awaiting test results, Sumner County Emergency Medical Services Chief Greg Miller said Friday. He also warned that the numbers could increase.
The hospital did not disclose whether the patient who died is one of those who was positive for COVID-19.
Hospital CEO Susan Peach said Friday that doctors there had already been seeing patients with COVID-19 and were working to prepare extra isolation units.
"We have mobilized our emergency response team and are implementing plans that will immediately, and significantly, increase our capacity across HighPoint Health System should we experience a steep increase in critically ill patients," Peach said.
Earlier in the week, the nursing home said an employee had tested positive for COVID-19. Tennessee Health Department spokeswoman Shelley Walker has said the facility is cooperating with the department and has put in place "aggressive" infection control measures.
Tennessee was reporting 1,373 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the state Health Department, with 118 hospitalizations and six deaths. Shelby County recorded its first death from the virus Saturday, according to a news release from the county Health Department.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks, and the majority of people recover. But severe cases can need respirators to survive, and with infections spreading exponentially, hospitals across the country are either bracing for a coming wave of patients, or already struggling to keep up.