An emergency room physician at Magnolia Regional Medical Center has tested positive for coronavirus, according to hospital Chief Executive Officer Rex Jones.
The test result came back Monday, and the physician is now quarantined, according to Jones. All patients that were seen by or who came in contact with the ER physician are now in the process of being contacted to determine whether they may have cold or flu-like symptoms.
“They will just need to self-monitor for the two weeks after they were [at the ER] to see if they develop the symptoms,” said Jones.
If a recent visitor to the ER is not contacted, that means he or she was not seen by the particular ER physician that tested positive.
“They don’t need to worry,” Jones added.
The name of the physician cannot be released, but the doctor has worked at least two other facilities, the CEO said Monday.
The ER staff at MRMC was already in the process of wearing masks when the test result came back positive.
“We had already instituted that precaution before the positive test,” Jones said. “We’re not even sure how [the doctor] got it.”
As of Monday, no other hospital staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Jones, and no one with the virus has been admitted for an in-patient stay.
All precautions have already been taken to sanitize the facility after the positive test -- even more so than usual, according to Jones.