Death Toll Climbs to 9 From COVID Outbreak at Tennessee Nursing Home

Nine people have now died in a coronavirus outbreak at a Tennessee nursing home that saw more than 100 people test positive.

Sumner Regional Medical Center spokesman Kyle Brogdon on Tuesday confirmed the new total of fatalities from the Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing.

State health officials have said more than 70 residents and more than 30 staffers tested positive at the facility, which was temporarily evacuated but has since allowed some residents to return.

The state contracted out a deep cleaning and disinfecting of the facility on March 29 and state Health Department nurses surveyed it starting April 1 to ensure it was safe for residents to reenter, Tennessee Department of Health spokeswoman Shelley Walker has said.

Residents who tested negative or tested positive and recovered have since been allowed to reenter the facility, while residents who tested positive and are recovering remain at hospitals, Walker said.

“We had multiple folks in their facility late (Sunday) night and we continue to find no deficient practices and find their response to be perfectly adequate,” state Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said during a Monday afternoon virtual news conference.

Last week, Sumner County Mayor Anthony Holt said that at the nursing home, “Once employees became symptomatic, they should have asked them to go home immediately and called the health department. I don’t think that occurred.”

Tennessee’s confirmed cases have grown to more than 3,800, with 65 confirmed deaths.

For the vast majority, symptoms clear up in several weeks without requiring hospitalization, but the consequences can be life-threatening for older people and those with existing health problems.