HFAH: 6 Confirmed Positive Cases in Jackson County; 2 Hospitalized

Updated to include additional information on the 6 confirmed cases.

(UPDATED March 24, 2020 4:45 PM)

Henry Ford Allegiance Health reported today there are 6 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Jackson County as of 1 PM today.

Dr. Mark Smith, Chief Medical Officer of HFAH said, “Of the 6 positive cases, two are inpatient at HFAH, one in fair condition and one in critical condition.  3 cases are at home in good condition and self-isolating and the other remaining case has fully recovered.”

HFAH reports there are 14 “persons of interest”, cases they are monitoring.  Dr. Smith says that means HFAH is watching their symptoms and waiting for test results to come back.  Those patients are in the hospital in private rooms with isolation and personal protective equipment is being used by staff and physicians taking care of the patients.

Dr. Pamela Hackert, Medical Director of the Jackson County Health Department and an Occupational and Preventive Medicine Physician at HFAH reported at the press briefing that there are 1,809 positive COVID-19 cases in the State of Michigan.

Dr. Hackert provided additional detail on the 5 new cases reported since yesterday:

“The first case is a man, he did not travel, but he does work in another county and that county does have a fairly high incidence of cases.

“The second case had not traveled and she also works in another county.

“The third case is a woman in Jackson County who does not report any travel outside of Jackson County.

“The fourth case is a person who did travel outside of the state.  He returned to Michigan with symptoms two days after his return.  When he did have any symptoms at all he completely self-isolated himself so there was no potential for exposure within our county.

“The last of the new cases is very new and he is one of the hospital patients and we do not have any type of exposure or contact identified with that case yet.”

Dr. Hackert described the tracking process of new cases and looking at potential exposure sites.

“Our nurses take a very detailed history from the patient.  If the patient is unable to provide the information, we take a very detailed history from their closest relative,” said Hackert.  “In all but one of the cases, we’ve already determined that contacts and potential exposure sites were easy to identify.  There were no activities that they did where they would have been potentially exposing the community as a whole.”

Dr. Hackert said their contacts have been notified with a phone call and are being followed up on by the health department.

“One of the cases we are still investigating to see if there is a potential site that can be released to the public,” said Hackert.  When that is determined, it will be released to the public.

Dr. Hackert stressed that the number of confirmed positive cases cannot be used to estimate the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the county.

“I know we’ve all heard the analogy that this is the tip of the iceberg and that is true,” said Hackert.  “We just don’t know how big the tip of the iceberg is that’s showing.”

Courtland Keteyian, MD, VP, Population Health; and president and CEO of Jackson Health Network, said, “we have had 931 cars pass through the mobile testing site.  Of those, 531 did not need to be tested; these individuals were provided with education.  HFAH has also tested 29 employees.”

Keteyian said the hospital is receiving many calls from people who have been tested and are awaiting results.  “It can take up to 7 days to get results and we will call you,” he said.

“Given the length of time it currently takes to receive lab reports, we advise anyone experience symptoms of COVID-19; and those include fever, dry cough, headache, shortness of breath —some people report abdominal pain — act as though you have the infection.  Self isolate for 14 days…that is the treatment,” said Dr. Keteyian.

The testing site is still open and those interested in getting tested need to call  (313) 874-1055.

Drive-through testing is only recommended if individuals are experiencing symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, or shortness of breath), and have a risk factor (e.g., age 65 or older, chronic medical condition, or immunocompromised), and one of the following:

• Travel outside of Michigan within the past 14 days.
• Close contact with someone who already has, or is suspected to have, COVID-19.

According to Dr. Keteyian, “For otherwise healthy individuals with symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever or cough, we are asking them to self-isolate at home for 14 days and not seek testing. Their close contacts, such as family members living with them, should also self-isolate at home for 14 days, if they develop symptoms.”

Local COVID-19 information and facility closure updates are regularly updated and available at HenryFord.com/COVID19Jackson.