Macon nursing home has more than 60 coronavirus cases, officials say
A nursing home in Macon has more than 60 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
PruittHealth - Macon, at 2255 Anthony Road, has 68 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus: the only two PruittHealth nursing homes that have more cases in Georgia than Macon’s nursing home are located in Fulton County and Dougherty County, according to PruittHealth’s website.
PruittHealth - Macon has 11 pending tests with 113 negative tests.
“We know how stressful this time is for our patients and their loved ones,” said Neil L. Pruitt Jr., chairman and CEO of PruittHealth. “That’s why we decided to publish location-specific COVID-19 data on our website to help families stay informed and connected.
PruittHealth announced on April 8 that PruittHealth Macon, along with other facilities, were operating at “Alert Code Red” status after having at least one presumptive case of COVID-19, but the facility was waiting on confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the release.
“By initiating Alert Code Red for these centers, PruittHealth has continued to implement enhanced infection control protocols, including increasing cleaning frequency, postponing communal activities, ceasing visitation, and screening staff and patients daily,” the release read.
The center has restricted staff to only essential personnel and has ceased new admissions, according to the release.
“As more patients are tested, we anticipate seeing an initial increase in presumptive positive tests, similar to what we see across the nation as additional testing centers open to the public,” Pruitt said. “These presumptive positive results do not necessarily mean patients are experiencing symptoms, but we felt strongly that this is exactly the kind of information families and our communities would want to know.”
PruittHealth runs three nursing home facilities in Macon, including PruittHealth - Eastside and PruittHealth - Peake, which both have a confirmed COVID-19 case, according to a long-term care facility report from Gov. Brian Kemp’s office from April 12.
Three other nursing homes in Bibb County have had either a resident or staff member test positive for COVID-19: Archway Transitional Care Center on Houston Avenue, Macon Rehab & Healthcare on Coliseum Drive and Zebulon Park Health and Rehabilitation on Plantation Way.
It was unclear as of press time Wednesday whether the positive cases at PruittHealth-Macon were reflected in the COVID-19 case numbers released by the Georgia Department of Public Health for Bibb County, which was up to 95 cases as of the noon DPH update.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 4:57 PM.