A man in his 60s has become the first Carroll County resident to die from the novel coronavirus.
The man, who died Tuesday at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, had other health complications as well, according to Christine Hemphill, a spokeswoman for the hospital.
The death was initially reported Thursday by the Mississippi State Department of Health in its daily update of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Carroll County has had nine COVID-19 cases.
The Health Department also reported only one Leflore County long-term care facility as among the 65 nursing homes and assisted care residences statewide with COVID-19 outbreaks. On Wednesday, the department listed 66 long-term care facilities, including a third one in Leflore County. Attempts by the Commonwealth Wednesday to identify that facility were not successful. The Health Department does not release the names of the facilities with outbreaks because of concerns that disclosure might violate a federal patient privacy law.
The Health Department has not yet explained the change in totals, but a disclaimer on its website says its numbers are provisional and might be amended with investigation.
Two Greenwood nursing homes, Golden Age and Crystal Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, have had outbreaks of the new coronavirus this month. Golden Age’s involved one resident, who never showed symptoms and was quarantined but now is no longer isolated after negative test results were received. There are no other known cases of infection of residents or staff at Golden Age, Allan Hammons, a spokesman for the nursing home, said Wednesday.
A resident from Crystal Rehab died after contracting COVID-19, and another was hospitalized with the illness. Two employees of the nursing home also tested positive for the new coronavirus and were recovering at home, the company said Monday.
Long-term care facilities are considered high-risk locations for the respiratory disease because their residents are elderly or in poor health.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. Of the 129 deaths attributed so far to COVID-19 in Mississippi, 88% have involved people who are at least 60 years of age.
At Greenwood Leflore Hospital, there are 13 patients being treated in its COVID-19 unit. Twelve patients are positive cases and five of these are on ventilators, Hemphill said Thursday. The other patient is a person under investigation as a possible COVID-19 case and is on a ventilator.
Leflore County has had 62 cases of COVID-19 and six deaths.
• Contact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com
