By Zach Hester, Reporter • zach@southerntorch.com (Photo via Crossville Health and Rehabilitation | Facebook)
CROSSVILLE, Ala. — An outbreak of COVID-19 has occurred at Crossville Health and Rehabilitation with 20 residents and eight employees testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
According to a spokesperson at the facility, all residents and staff were tested as a precaution after a resident was taken to the hospital upon showing symptoms of the virus. A dedicated coronavirus unit has now been set up to separate the positive residents from the rest of the facility.
Visitors have not been allowed inside the facility since March. The current “Safer-At-Home” order signed by Governor Kay Ivey (R-Ala.), which ends next week, does not allow residents to have visitors except for end-of-life cases.
Nursing homes have become a breeding ground for the virus as COVID-19 wreaks havoc across the nation.
John Matson of the Alabama Nursing Association said 166 nursing homes in Alabama have had either a resident or employee test positive for the virus. It is unknown how many nursing home-related cases have recovered.
To see if a local nursing home has reported a case of COVID-19, please visit data.cms.gov.