New screening measures, emergency department extension in effect at Mount Nittany Health
Everyone who accesses Mount Nittany Health facilities will be screened as of Monday as a preventative measure against the spread of the new coronavirus, the health system announced Sunday.
Patients, employees, health care providers and all others can expect to be asked several questions, including if they have had a new onset cough or shortness of breath, been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, traveled outside the United States or had a fever in the past 14 days.
All vehicles, except emergency vehicles and patients traveling to the emergency department, will be stopped for a screening starting Tuesday.
Upon arrival at the ER, patients will be screened at the entrance of the ER for fever, cough and shortness of breath, then directed to the appropriate area to receive their care.
A dedicated area for patients presenting with fever, cough and shortness of breath symptoms has been established on the medical center campus. The structure is located outside of the emergency department.
Mount Nittany Health announced Friday that two patients within its system tested positive for COVID-19.
It’s unclear where the patients reside, where they work or where they were before testing positive. The information is not made public to protect their privacy, state Health Department press secretary Nate Wardle wrote Monday in an email.
“With the number of positive cases in Pennsylvania, we are no longer conducting contact tracing and working to determine all locations a positive individual may have been,” Wardle wrote. “However, with that said, if there is information that needs to be shared with groups of people, that is being done to the extent that we can.”
The state Health Department confirmed one Centre County case on Friday, with two new cases reported Monday.
Pennsylvania announced 644 confirmed cases statewide as of noon Monday, up 165 from Sunday. Thirty-four of the state’s 67 counties have at least one confirmed case.
For most people, COVID-19 causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. Older adults and those with existing health problems are at a heightened risk for more severe illness.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 11:42 AM.