Hunter
03/18/20
Mercy Hospital in Iowa City says they’ve set up temporary facilities to test patients with coronavirus-like symptoms and have alread treated two patients who tested positive.
The Daily Iowan reports that one patient is still recovering at the hospital, while the other was released to go home.
At a press conference Tuesday, director of communications Mary Margaret Reese said that a tent connected to the outside of the emergency room has been constructed as a temporary testing area in order to separate those who may be infected from the rest of the hospital.
Mercy has tested 39 people and received results from the State Hygienic Lab in Iowa City within 24 hours. Reese noted that most of those tested were people who traveled on the same Egyptian cruise that is connected to over a dozen COVID-19 cases in Johnson County.
As of Tuesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health is monitoring 199 people for coronavirus, with 48 having completed the monitoring period. With many different laboratories offering testing, the IDPH is not publishing the number of tests pending and negative test results. However, they say that as of Tuesday they’ve identified 29 COVID-19 cases, 18 in Johnson County.
