A Statesboro medical practice posted on its Facebook page Thursday afternoon that it had a patient test positive for the coronavirus.
In the post, which appeared a little after 3 p.m., Southern Family Medicine said the patient tested positive on Tuesday. Bulloch County Public Safety Director Ted Wynn said he had not been informed through an official Department of Public Health confirmation of this particular case, but he said the county was told of a COVID-19 connection Thursday morning.
Southern Family Medicine is located in the Market District on Brampton Avenue.
As of noon Thursday, 473 people in Georgia were hospitalized because of the virus, according to data from the Georgia Department of Public Health, with 48 deaths. The state is reporting 1,525 confirmed cases, though testing has been limited and results can sometimes take days to receive.
The following is the text of the Facebook post from Southern Family Medicine:
“On March 24th, Southern Family Medicine Statesboro had a patient test positive for coronavirus COVID-19. The Georgia Department of Public Health is conducting social contact tracing to help minimize risk to our communities.
“We are following guidance from CDC and local and state departments of health to limit exposure to our staff and patients. At this time, we have no evidence that our healthcare team experienced increased exposure, but out of an abundance of precaution, all team members who interacted with this patient wore protective gear including N95 masks and gloves (for airborne and contact precautions). CDC algorithm indicates that this was a low-risk exposure. The patient was seen on our isolation hallway, using a separate entrance, which we set up for just this scenario.
“Our cleaning/sanitization practices after this and each suspected or tested patient's visit meet appropriate standards and guidelines set forth by the Georgia Department of Public Health.
“We will continue to remain open. We wish to remind our patients that we now offer telemedicine, so patients concerned about exposure to COVID-19 can still meet with their provider from the safety of their home. Please call our office at 912-871-2273 to schedule your telemedicine appointment. We will continue testing our patients due to appropriate symptoms or exposure. Our current testing supplies and capacity are not restricted and we are testing all patients who meet indications.
“Thank you for letting us continue to help you during this difficult time.”
The Statesboro Herald will update the story as more details become known.