Leflore County has experienced its second death from COVID-19.
A woman in her 60s with other health complications died Friday at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Christine Hemphill.
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No other information about the patient was being released because of federal privacy laws.
The woman’s death was one of six additional deaths reported Saturday by the Mississippi State Department of Health. The total mortality count in the state from the new coronavirus is now 35. There have been 1,455 cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi since the outbreak began last month.
Leflore County has had 22 cases and Carroll County five.
Meanwhile, a Greenwood nursing home says it has taken steps to contain an outbreak at its facility after one of its residents tested positive for the coronavirus this past week.
Golden Age Inc. is one of 35 long-term care facilities in Mississippi that the Health Department has reported as experiencing an outbreak, which the state health agency defines as one case of COVID-19 or more.
Long-term care facilities are considered high-risk locations 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.
Nay Reed, administrator at Golden Age, said Saturday that the infected resident at the 150-bed facility has been put in isolation according to the guidelines and protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The resident is currently not exhibiting any symptoms and is resting comfortably, Reed said.
“Golden Age is taking every possible precaution to ensure that residents are protected,” she said in a prepared statement. She also said she wanted to remind the public that federal guidelines, as implemented in response to the pandemic, restrict visitors to all long-term care facilities.
The state Department of Health requires nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to immediately report cases of COVID-19. Seven were added to the total Saturday.
On Friday, Mississippi went under a statewide partial lockdown following Gov. Tate Reeves’ shelter-at-home order, which is designed to slow the spread of the respiratory disease. The order limits social or church gatherings to 10 people or less, requires non-essential businesses to close and directs people to stay at home except for essential outings, such as to purchase groceries, or to get individual exercise outdoors.
Concurrent with the governor’s mandate, Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams ordered a citywide nightly curfew that runs from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Both the governor’s order and the curfew are to stay in place until April 20.
Hemphill said that Greenwood Leflore Hospital, as of Saturday morning, has 10 patients in its 16-bed specially designated COVID-19 unit. One patient has tested positive for the disease and is on a ventilator to help the patient breathe. The other nine are suspected of having the virus. Three of them are also on ventilators.
• Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
