4 Beaufort hospital employees isolate for coronavirus after contact with 2 people

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Four employees at Beaufort Memorial Hospital are in self-isolation after contact with two people under investigation for possible COVID-19 exposure, a hospital release says.

The two individuals are being tested by S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The employees will remain isolated until tests results are reported.

“Our four employees are considered low-risk for COVID-19,” hospital President and CEO Russell Baxley said in the release. “However, testing for COVID 19 will be conducted by an authorized lab as a precaution.”

The hospital is following appropriate actions and guidelines based on the results.

There are 10 presumed and confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Carolina as of Thursday.

Call-ahead

The hospital set up call-head screenings on Wednesday for patients at Beaufort Memorial Hospital and Express Care Clinics if they have fever and respiratory symptoms, hospital officials said Wednesday.

“Based on their responses, patients could be asked to report to one of two Express Care locations in Beaufort or Bluffton,” the release says.

Patients are likely to receive rapid influenza and strep tests and, in some cases, may be asked to wait in their cars while the tests are administered and processed.

If both tests are negative, patients will be given a Respiratory Virus Panel (RVP) at the hospital’s emergency department.

RVP tests look for a variety of respiratory illnesses, such as rhinovirus and RSV, according to Lap Corp’s website.

“The call-ahead screening process is designed for patients who meet the high-risk criteria for COVID-19, including travel outside of the U.S. in the past 30 days and fever, cough and shortness of breath,” Sherri Rabon, Beaufort Memorial infection prevention manager, said in the release. “The goal is to decrease the risk of exposure to patients and staff, while providing symptomatic patients with clinical screenings and testing quickly and safely.”

The hospital is following steps encouraged by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and SCDHEC.

“For patient convenience, hospital staff may collect upper and lower airway samples at its emergency department and store them for eventual testing by DHEC and CDC,” the release says. “It is important to note that Beaufort Memorial does not provide COVID-19 testing.”

Visit Beaufort Memorial’s website at www.beaufortmemorial.org/coronavirus for more information or email healthupdates@bmhsc.org.

This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 12:31 PM.