A Coast patient with coronavirus has been hospitalized in Biloxi, Merit Health says
A patient who tested positive for new coronavirus is being hospitalized in an infection isolation room at Merit Health Biloxi, the hospital confirmed.
The is the first known hospitalization on the Coast of a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
The patient is from Harrison County. It is unclear if this new case is included in the Mississippi Health Department’s daily count of cases, which on March 18 shows 34 cases statewide, seven on the Coast and four from Harrison County.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport reported its first case of COVID-19. A civilian employee with the NCBC Naval Exchange tested positive.
Merit Health said in a press release Wednesday, “For the last several days, our hospital has been working collaboratively with the Mississippi State Department of Health while testing was completed for a patient who presented to our facility with risk factors and symptoms consistent with those associated with novel Coronavirus.
“Since identifying the patient as potentially having COVID-19, the individual has been separated from other patients in an appropriate infection isolation room which only a small team of caregivers can access,” the hospital said.
That person remains in isolation to avoid contact and exposure with other patients.
“We are well prepared to support this patient during testing and treatment, and to continue providing medical care for all patients in our care while protecting the safety of our caregiving team and other patients,” the hospital said.
Other patients with COVID-19 on the Coast so far have been quarantined at home.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 12:12 PM.
