Update: Wednesday 9:08 p.m. — East Alabama Medical Center said it has nine people hospitalized with COVID-19. One of them is from a nursing home, according to the hospital. There are also 25 additional people who are currently hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 as of Wednesday afternoon, according to EAMC.
Click here to see The Plainsman's full coverage of COVID-19 in the Auburn-Opelika area.
Seven people are hospitalized at East Alabama Medical Center because they have confirmed cases of COVID-19, and one came from a nursing home, the hospital announced on Tuesday evening.
There are also, however, 27 people currently hospitalized with suspected COVID-19, according to EAMC.
One patient who was hospitalized with COVID-19 has been discharged.
“Like other hospitals, we have surge capacity contingency plans that have to be considered during times like these,” said Laura Grill, CEO of EAMC. “As such, we have made some changes to where we care for certain patient types so as to separate our non-COVID patients from our confirmed or suspected COVID patients.”
As of Tuesday night, there were 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lee County, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. EAMC said it has submitted over 700 collection kits. A total of 416 tests came back negative as of Monday afternoon, while 252 tests were still awaiting results.
“At this time, Lee County has the third highest number of confirmed cases in the state,” Grill said. “That makes us somewhat of a hot spot for Alabama and so we are working very closely with the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Hospital Association to monitor our situation.”
The age range for the patients who have tested positive at EAMC is between 20 and 82; health-wise, the patients have ranged from having mild symptoms to severe, the hospital said.
Ricardo Maldonado, infectious diseases specialist and lead expert on EAMC’s COVID-19 response team, urged residents to do their part and stay home.
"An unprecedented crisis made landfall last week in our community," Maldonado said. "The situation will likely worsen in the next few days."
Click here to see The Plainsman's full coverage of COVID-19 in the Auburn-Opelika area.
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Eduardo Medina, senior in journalism, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
