The Lebanon Veterans Affairs Medical Center announced Saturday that it was treating its first in-patient case of the novel coronavirus.
So far, the VA has diagnosed four cases of coronavirus. The other three diagnosed veterans are recuperating at home. The VA did not disclose the home counties of the diagnosed veterans, and it’s possible the veterans could be residents of any one of the nine counties served by the facility.
The VA had confirmed its first coronavirus case on March 18. The second case was confirmed on March 26, with the VA noting that, “All individuals who were in contact with the Veteran have been notified and were placed on self-quarantine.”
Earlier this month, the Medical Center had implemented a screening protocol to reduce on-campus risk of COVID-19.
Read More: Still no cases, but COVID-19 impact here as LVC, LVAMC reduce on-campus risk
Despite the measures taken by the VA, some employees are apparently concerned about the protocol being used at the federally-managed healthcare facility. According to an abc27 report, which was not independently verified by LebTown, the veteran who was confirmed to have coronavirus on March 26 had been on a medical-surgical floor (and not the COVID-19 isolation unit) for “several days” before the test came back positive. abc27 reported that some but not all of the staff who came in contact with the COVID-19 patient were sent home to self-quarantine.
Read all of LebTown’s COVID-19 coverage here.
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